The Presidency has acknowledged that the Nigerian military made an error in an earlier claim regarding the killing of top ISIS commander Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, even as the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) issued multiple clarifications insisting there is no ambiguity over the identity of the terrorist leader killed on May 16, 2026, in a joint military operation involving the United States Africa Command.
The controversy erupted after Nigerians woke up to the news that the ISIS commander had been killed in a precision strike, only for it to emerge that the same Defence Headquarters had listed Al-Minuki among terrorists neutralised during counterterrorism operations conducted in northern Nigeria between January and March 2024 raising immediate questions about the credibility of the latest claim and reviving painful memories of repeated false declarations of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau’s death.
US President Donald Trump announced the killing in a post on Truth Social, describing Al-Minuki as the “most active terrorist in the world” and the second-in-command of ISIS globally.
“Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield,” Trump wrote.
He said the operation would weaken ISIS operations globally and reduce threats against Americans and people across Africa, and thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership.
“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing. He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans. With his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished. Thank you to the Government of Nigeria for your partnership on this operation. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump stated.
President Bola Tinubu also confirmed the killing, describing it as a product of Nigerian-American counterterrorism collaboration and expressing his desire for further cooperation with the United States.
The celebration was immediately complicated when Daily Trust and other media outlets spotted that two years earlier, the Defence Headquarters had listed Al-Minuki among terrorists killed during operations between January and March 2024.
Addressing journalists at Defence Headquarters in Abuja in 2024, then Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, had described Minuki as head of Is-Al Furqan Province (ISGS and ISWAP). According to Buba, Minuki — popularly known as Abubakar Mainok among his criminal gang members — operated along Birnin Gwari Forest in Kaduna State as well as the Abuja-Kaduna Highway. The former Defence spokesman said the terror commander was killed on February 21, 2024.
Buba had claimed that over 50 combatants, including Kachallah Alhaji Dayi, Kachallah Idi (Namaidaro), Kachallah Kabiru (Doka), Kachallah Azarailu (Farin-Ruwa), Kachallah Balejo, Ubangida, and Alhaji Baldu, among several others, were all killed within that period.
The public expressed shock at the apparent contradiction the same terrorist commander being declared dead in 2024 and then killed again in 2026.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga addressed the controversy directly, acknowledging the earlier claim while arguing that the latest operation was fundamentally different in its level of precision and verification.
“It is acknowledged within military and intelligence circles that Al-Manuki’s name had appeared among lists of suspected ISWAP/Boko Haram commanders reportedly killed in 2024 during operations around the Birnin Gwari forest axis in Kaduna State,” the presidential statement read.
“However, security officials now clarify that the earlier listing was a case of mistaken identity or misattribution in the fog of sustained counterinsurgency operations.”
Critically, the statement revealed that intelligence authorities had since established that the Birnin Gwari area was never part of Al-Minuki’s known operational territory, thereby discrediting the entire 2024 assessment.
“Importantly, intelligence now confirms that the Birnin Gwari theatre was never within Al-Manuki’s established operational sphere, which negates the accuracy of the earlier assessment,” the statement added.
Onanuga argued that intelligence gathering in counterterrorism operations was often imperfect and subject to evolving realities, and maintained that security agencies were now “100 per cent certain” that the ISIS commander had been neutralised.
According to the Presidency, the operation that killed Al-Minuki followed prolonged Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) efforts backed by communications monitoring and phone intercepts that reportedly commenced in December 2025.
“The intelligence trail, according to sources familiar with the mission, did not emerge overnight. Rather, it was built over months of persistent tracking, digital surveillance, and human intelligence inputs to map Al-Manuki’s movements across key locations in northern Nigeria,” the statement disclosed.
Onanuga revealed that security agencies initially sought to apprehend the commander alive before circumstances led to the final kinetic operation.
“Security officials disclosed that efforts initially focused on capturing him alive rather than eliminating him. This explains why he was reportedly under surveillance in multiple locations, including Abuja and Maiduguri, up to just days before the final operation,” the statement said.
The Presidency stressed that unlike previous incidents where battlefield reports were later revised, the latest operation involved a significantly higher degree of precision, target validation, and multi-source intelligence confirmation.
“Officials maintain that multiple layers of verification were applied before authorisation of the final kinetic action, making this operation distinct from earlier incidents in which battlefield assessments later required revision. In their assessment, ‘this time, there is no ambiguity,’” the statement concluded.
Onanuga cited global precedents, including inaccurate reports surrounding former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose death was first announced but only confirmed four years later, to argue that intelligence errors in counterterrorism are not unique to Nigeria.
The Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, gave a separate clarification on Saturday, explaining that the recurrence of similar or identical names among terrorist elements in the North-East and Lake Chad Basin has contributed to public confusion.
He said such naming patterns are common among ISWAP and Boko Haram fighters as part of their indoctrination and efforts to conceal real identities. “This fact has been established over the years in the course of counterterrorism operations in the North-East of Nigeria,” he stated.
Major General Uba confirmed that the Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki killed in the latest operation was positively identified through both human intelligence and technical surveillance as a senior ISIS global operative. He said the slain commander had established links to international terrorist coordination, funding channels, and operational activities across the Sahel region.
“There is therefore no ambiguity in his identity,” he stressed, describing the operation as a significant milestone in ongoing counterterrorism efforts.
He added that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, in collaboration with US Africa Command, remain committed to dismantling terrorist networks and urged the public to rely strictly on official sources to avoid confusion arising from similarities in terrorist aliases.
Major General Michael Onoja, Director of Defence Media Operations, also addressed the circumstances of the operation, confirming that no foreign soldier participated in the strike that killed Al-Minuki.
“There were no foreign boots on the ground during this operation. What we received were intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance support and other force enablers,” Onoja stated during a monitored television programme.
He described the mission as a carefully executed precision strike against a high-value terrorist target and said it reflected the professionalism, discipline, and tactical readiness of the troops involved. “We are happy to state that due to our troops’ professionalism, there was no loss of life on our side,” Onoja added.
Onoja said the man killed in 2024 was a case of mistaken identity, while the man neutralised on May 16, 2026 was the original Abu Bilal Al-Minuki, who used multiple aliases that helped him evade detection for years.
“This individual has been on international watchlists for a very long time,” Onoja said, noting that security records linked the commander to monitoring agencies including the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Nigeria.
Onoja used the occasion to issue a direct warning to wanted bandit leader Bello Turji, who remains a major security threat in the North-West.
