The clarification comes after a joint Nigeria–United States military strike on May 16, 2026, which reportedly eliminated the senior terrorist commander.
A combo of Bayo Onanuga and DHQ headquarters
The Presidency and the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) have clarified reports surrounding the neutralisation of ISWAP commander Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, following public debate over claims that the same individual had been declared killed in an earlier 2024 military operation.
The clarification comes after a joint Nigeria–United States military strike on May 16, 2026, which reportedly eliminated the senior terrorist commander, an operation also referenced by former U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform.
Trump had described Al-Manuki as the terrorist group’s second-in-command globally, stating that he was eliminated in an operation carried out by “brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria,” and calling him “the most active terrorist in the world.”
In a separate clarification, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed suggestions of inconsistency in earlier reports, explaining that references to a 2024 operation stemmed from mistaken identity.
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He said security agencies had earlier listed an individual with the same name among those reportedly killed during operations in the Birnin Gwari forest axis in Kaduna State, but later established that the attribution was incorrect.
“Security officials now clarify that the earlier listing was a case of mistaken identity or misattribution in the fog of sustained counterinsurgency operations,” Onanuga stated.
He added that intelligence now confirms that the Birnin Gwari theatre was never within Al-Manuki’s operational area, making the earlier assessment inaccurate. According to him, the latest operation was based on months of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), supported by communications monitoring and phone intercepts beginning in December 2025.
Onanuga further explained that security agencies initially intended to capture the suspect alive, leading to prolonged surveillance across multiple locations including Abuja and Maiduguri before the final strike.
He stressed that multiple layers of verification were applied before authorising the operation, adding that authorities are fully confident in the outcome and that “there is no ambiguity” regarding the identity of the target.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) also issued a formal statement addressing public concerns over name similarities, noting that confusion arose due to earlier reports referencing a similarly named terrorist commander allegedly killed in 2024.
In its statement signed by Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, the DHQ explained that the use of identical or similar names and aliases is common among ISWAP and Boko Haram fighters across the North East and Lake Chad Basin, often as part of deliberate efforts to obscure identities.
It clarified that the Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki killed in the May 16, 2026 operation was positively identified through human intelligence and technical surveillance as a senior global operative within the Islamic State network, with links to international terrorist financing and coordination across the Sahel.
The military maintained that there was “no ambiguity” regarding the identity of the neutralised commander and described the operation as a major milestone in ongoing counter-terrorism efforts.
The Armed Forces of Nigeria reaffirmed their commitment, in collaboration with international partners, to dismantling terrorist networks and urged the public and media to rely only on official communications to avoid confusion arising from name similarities.
