The Presidency has said reports claiming Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, a senior ISIS commander, was killed in 2024 were based on mistaken identity.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, said security agencies have now confirmed that the earlier reports were inaccurate.
The clarification followed the announcement by US President Donald Trump and President Bola Tinubu that Al-Minuki was killed during a joint military operation carried out by Nigerian and American forces in the Lake Chad Basin.
Questions emerged online after old reports resurfaced claiming the ISWAP commander had already been declared dead during military operations in Kaduna State in 2024.
Responding to the controversy, Onanuga said Al-Minuki’s name had previously appeared among suspected insurgent commanders reportedly killed around the Birnin Gwari forest axis, but intelligence officials later discovered the identification was wrong.
According to the Presidency, new intelligence showed that Birnin Gwari was never part of Al-Minuki’s operational territory, casting doubt on the earlier assessment.
Onanuga said the latest operation involved months of surveillance, intelligence gathering, communications monitoring and human intelligence tracking that reportedly started in December 2025.
He added that security agencies initially aimed to capture the ISIS commander alive before carrying out the final strike.
The Presidency also insisted that the latest mission involved “multiple layers of verification” before the operation was approved, stressing that “this time, there is no ambiguity.”
Reuters reported that Al-Minuki was killed alongside several lieutenants during the operation in Borno State.
