The Presidency has defended the reported killing of senior Islamic State leader Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, insisting that claims he had been eliminated in a previous operation were the result of mistaken identity.
According to a report by Punch, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said earlier reports linking Al-Manuki to a 2024 military operation were based on incorrect battlefield assessments.
Responding to public scepticism after US President Donald Trump announced the joint Nigeria-United States operation, Onanuga explained that security officials had reviewed the earlier intelligence and concluded that Al-Manuki had been wrongly identified.
He said intelligence later confirmed that the Birnin Gwari forest area, where the 2024 operation took place, was never within Al-Manuki’s operational territory, making the previous assessment inaccurate.
Onanuga disclosed that the latest operation followed months of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance efforts, supported by communications monitoring and phone intercepts that began in December 2025.
According to him, security agencies initially planned to capture Al-Manuki alive, placing him under surveillance in locations including Abuja and Maiduguri before authorising the final military strike.
He said multiple layers of verification were carried out before the operation, adding that security officials are now “100 per cent certain” the target was Al-Manuki.
The clarification follows comparisons with previous counterterrorism operations in which militant leaders, including Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, were wrongly declared dead before later resurfacing.
Trump announced the operation on Friday through his Truth Social platform, describing Al-Manuki as “the most active terrorist in the world” and “second in command of ISIS globally.”
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth later identified Al-Manuki as the senior ISIS General Directorate of Provinces Emir, responsible for coordinating attacks, hostage-taking and financial operations across the Sahel. The US Africa Command also released footage of the targeted strikes.
President Bola Tinubu praised the joint Nigeria-US mission, describing it as a major blow against the Islamic State and highlighting the value of security cooperation between both countries.
Al-Manuki, also known by several aliases including Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Mainuki and Abubakar Mainok, was born in Mainok, Borno State, in 1982. He was designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Department of State in June 2023 and rose through the ranks of ISWAP following the death of Mamman Nur in 2018.
Onanuga urged Nigerians not to undermine verified joint military operations, warning that doing so could weaken public confidence in ongoing counterterrorism efforts.
