The Presidency has strongly dismissed growing public skepticism claiming that Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki—the senior Islamic State commander neutralized in a joint Nigeria-United States military operation—had already been killed in a previous raid.
The government insisted that past reports linking his name to a 2024 military strike were simply a case of mistaken identity.
The official clarification was issued on Saturday by Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy.
This came after Nigerians expressed doubt online following the initial announcement of the operative’s death by US President Donald Trump on Friday night.
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Taking to his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Onanuga acknowledged that Al-Manuki’s name had previously appeared on a list of suspected Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commanders reported dead during 2024 military operations around the Birnin Gwari forest axis in Kaduna State.
However, he clarified that security intelligence has since proven that listing was an error.
“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 added: “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.”
According to the presidential aide, the highly successful overnight operation was the result of meticulous, months-long Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) efforts, which included intense communications monitoring and phone intercepts tracking back to December 2025.
Onanuga disclosed that security operatives had initially planned to capture the top ISIS commander alive.
Because of this, Al-Manuki was placed under tight surveillance across multiple strategic locations, including Abuja and Maiduguri, days before the final strike was authorized.
“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,” the spokesperson stated.
Quoting the absolute confidence of the intelligence teams, Onanuga added: “In their assessment, ‘this time, there is no ambiguity’.” He emphasized that authorities are “100 per cent certain” of the target’s identity.
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The widespread public doubt is rooted in Nigeria’s long history of counterterrorism reporting.
Critics pointed out that former Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was famously declared dead by the Nigerian military multiple times over several years, only for him to repeatedly resurface in videos before his actual death was finally confirmed in 2021.
However, Onanuga warned the public against using past blunders to dismiss the legitimacy of this current breakthrough.
He noted that even in global counterterrorism, initial reports can be messy before final confirmation, referencing how early reports of the death of ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi were initially incorrect before he was finally eliminated years later.
“Undermining credible joint operations, particularly those involving Nigerian forces and international partners, risks weakening public confidence in ongoing counterterrorism efforts,” Onanuga cautioned.
The massive scale of the operation has been heavily backed by the United States government.
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth confirmed on Saturday that Al-Manuki was a massive target, serving as the senior ISIS General Directorate of Provinces Emir.
In that role, he oversaw attack planning, directed high-profile hostage-taking, and managed the terror group’s financial operations across the entire Sahel region.
Furthermore, the US Africa Command released official video footage showing targeted airstrikes hitting multiple high-value ISIS militants in northeastern Nigeria, confirming the claims.
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Announcing the victory late Friday on his Truth Social platform, US President Donald Trump wrote: “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.”
President Tinubu also released a separate statement on Saturday, describing the joint mission as one that “dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State,” while praising the Nigeria-U.S. alliance as a perfect model for global counterterrorism partnerships.
Born in 1982 in Mainok, Benisheikh, Borno State, the commander went by several aliases, including Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Mainuki, Abor Mainok, and Abubakar Mainok.
Because of his dangerous global reach, the U.S. Department of State officially designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in June 2023.
He rose to power within ISWAP after the 2018 killing of the group’s former leader, Mamman Nur.
He was heavily linked to the ISIS al-Furqan office network, which coordinates terror operations across Nigeria, the wider Sahel, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
