Presidency blasts doubters, insists slain ISWAP leader Al-Manuki is truly dead

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Presidency has defended the reported killing of a senior Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commander, Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, insisting that the latest Nigerian-American counterterrorism operation was backed by months of intensive intelligence gathering and multi-layered verification.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency dismissed doubts surrounding the operation, describing criticisms of the mission as premature and lacking understanding of the complexities of modern counterterrorism warfare.

The statement followed controversies triggered by reports that Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok or Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, had previously appeared on lists of insurgent commanders reportedly killed during military operations in 2024 around the Birnin Gwari axis in Kaduna State.

According to the Presidency, security and intelligence authorities have now clarified that the earlier reports were based on mistaken identity and inaccurate battlefield attribution.

Officials noted that intelligence assessments later established that Birnin Gwari was never part of Al-Manuki’s known operational territory, casting doubt on the credibility of the previous claims.

The Presidency maintained that the latest operation differed significantly from earlier incidents because it was driven by prolonged Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations supported by digital monitoring, communications intercepts and human intelligence.

According to security sources referenced in the statement, surveillance on the ISWAP commander reportedly began as far back as December 2025, with intelligence units closely tracking his movements across several locations in northern Nigeria.

The statement disclosed that security agencies initially explored the possibility of capturing the insurgent leader alive rather than eliminating him, which explained why he was reportedly monitored in locations including Abuja and Maiduguri before the final strike was authorised.

It added that the operation involved extensive target validation and multiple layers of intelligence confirmation before the final action was approved.

“Unlike the previous report, security authorities insist that the latest strike was executed with a significantly higher degree of precision, target validation and multi-source intelligence confirmation,” the statement noted.

The Presidency argued that while scepticism was understandable given previous cases where terrorist leaders were wrongly declared dead, such historical examples should not automatically invalidate current intelligence-backed operations.

The statement referenced past global counterterrorism operations involving high-profile terrorist figures such as ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose death was initially reported years before it was eventually confirmed.

According to the Presidency, such cases reflected the difficult and evolving nature of intelligence gathering in asymmetric warfare environments where insurgents frequently use aliases, operate across borders and conceal themselves within civilian populations.

The government warned that dismissing credible military operations without evidence could undermine public confidence, weaken operational morale and affect broader counterterrorism efforts.

The presidency, however, insisted that the latest operation against Al-Manuki was a verified success and maintained that there was “100 per cent certainty” regarding the identity of the slain ISWAP commander.