Defence Headquarters has clarified that Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, identified as the second-in-command of Islamic State (ISIS), was killed during a joint Nigerian-American military operation in 2026 and not in an earlier operation in 2024 as widely claimed online.
The clarification followed announcements by Donald Trump and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu confirming that the terrorist leader was recently eliminated in a coordinated operation involving Nigerian and United States troops.
After the announcement, social media users circulated claims suggesting that Al-Minuki had already been declared dead by the Nigerian military in 2024, creating confusion over the true identity of the slain insurgent.
Reacting to the reports, DHQ’s Director of Information, Samaila Uba, explained that the confusion was caused by the frequent use of identical names, aliases and nom de guerre among terrorists operating in the North-East and the Lake Chad Basin.
According to him, such naming patterns are common among both Islamic State West Africa Province and Boko Haram as part of their indoctrination system aimed at hiding identities and confusing intelligence tracking.
“It is important to state that within the North East region and across the Lake Chad Basin, the use of similar or identical names, aliases and nom de guerres is common among ISWAP and Boko Haram terrorists,” he said.
Uba stressed that the Al-Minuki killed on May 16, 2026, had been positively identified through human intelligence and technical surveillance as a senior global operative with direct links to international terrorist coordination, funding and operations across the Sahel.
“The Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki eliminated on 16 May, 2026, has been positively identified through human intelligence and technical surveillance as a senior global operative within the Islamic State network,” he stated.
He added that there was no uncertainty about the identity of the terrorist commander and described the operation as a major breakthrough in Nigeria’s ongoing counter-terrorism campaign.
The military spokesman said the Armed Forces of Nigeria, working closely with the United States, remained committed to dismantling terrorist networks and would continue to provide verified information through official channels.
He also urged the public and media organisations to rely on official statements to avoid confusion caused by similarities in terrorist aliases.
Earlier, the presidency had also dismissed reports linking Al-Minuki to a 2024 military operation in Kaduna State.
In a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, the presidency said intelligence later showed that Birnin Gwari forest, where the earlier operation took place, was never part of Al-Minuki’s operational territory.
It added that the latest successful strike followed months of surveillance, phone interceptions, intelligence gathering and human intelligence collaboration between Nigerian and American security operatives.
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