The Presidency and the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) have clarified reports surrounding the killing of ISWAP commander, Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, following questions over claims that the terrorist leader had earlier been declared dead during a military operation in 2024.
The clarification followed a joint Nigeria–United States military operation carried out on May 16, 2026, which reportedly eliminated the senior terrorist commander.
The operation also drew international attention after U.S. President Donald Trump referenced the strike on his Truth Social platform.
Trump described Al-Manuki as the global second-in-command of the terrorist network and praised the operation conducted by “brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
He further described the slain commander as “the most active terrorist in the world.”
Responding to public concerns over earlier reports, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed suggestions of contradictions in government statements.
According to Onanuga, the confusion arose from an earlier military report in 2024 that mistakenly identified another terrorist commander bearing a similar name as Al-Manuki during operations in the Birnin Gwari forest area of Kaduna State.
“Security officials now clarify that the earlier listing was a case of mistaken identity or misattribution in the fog of sustained counterinsurgency operations,” Onanuga explained.
He stated that fresh intelligence later confirmed that Birnin Gwari was never part of Al-Manuki’s operational territory, making the earlier identification inaccurate.
Onanuga further disclosed that the latest operation followed months of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), supported by communication tracking and phone intercepts which reportedly began in December 2025.
According to him, security agencies initially planned to capture the suspect alive, prompting extended surveillance activities across several locations, including Abuja and Maiduguri, before the final operation was approved.
He stressed that the operation went through multiple layers of verification before the strike was authorised, insisting that authorities were fully certain about the identity of the target.
“There is no ambiguity regarding the identity of the terrorist commander eliminated in the operation,” he added.
The Defence Headquarters also issued a separate statement to address concerns over similarities in names linked to previous reports.
In a statement signed by Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, the DHQ explained that insurgent groups such as ISWAP and Boko Haram frequently use identical names and aliases to conceal identities and confuse intelligence operations across the North East and Lake Chad Basin.
The military clarified that the Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki killed during the May 16, 2026 operation was positively identified through both human intelligence and technical surveillance.
According to the DHQ, the slain commander was a senior operative within the Islamic State network with alleged links to international terrorist financing and operational coordination across the Sahel region.
The Armed Forces of Nigeria described the operation as a significant breakthrough in ongoing counter-terrorism efforts and reaffirmed its commitment to dismantling terrorist networks in collaboration with international partners.
The military also urged members of the public and media organisations to rely on official communications to avoid misinformation caused by similarities in names and aliases used by terrorist groups.
