ISWAP Commander: We got him this time – Presidency

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja

The Presidency has said that the controversy that followed reports of the killing of Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki —also known as Abu-Mainok or Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, a senior Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commander — reflects public scepticism about counterterrorism claims.

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But military and intelligence officials say that scepticism, in this case, is misplaced.

Reacting to the controversy trailing the elimination of the senior leader of ISWAP, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said: “Premature doubts overlook the full operational picture.

“This was not a snap judgement. It was months of persistent tracking, layered verification and coordinated action.”

Earlier in 2024 Al-Manuki’s name had been linked — incorrectly, authorities now say — to casualties around the Birnin Gwari forest in Kaduna State.

“That was a case of mistaken identity arising from fog-of-war conditions,” the presidency added. “Birnin Gwari was never his area of operations.”

According to the presidency statement, the latest operation benefited from sustained Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), communications monitoring and phone intercepts that began as far back as December 2025.

The intelligence picture, it stressed, was constructed over months from digital surveillance, human sources and pattern-of-life analysis across northern Nigeria.

“Capturing him alive was our priority,” the statement noted. “That’s why he was kept under surveillance in multiple locations, including Abuja and Maiduguri, until we were certain the operation could succeed without jeopardising the mission.”

Security sources describe the strike as markedly different from earlier, less-certain incidents. “This time we applied multi-source confirmation and rigorous target validation,” one officer explained.

“We exhausted verification layers before authorising kinetic action. This time there is no ambiguity — we are 100 per cent certain.”

Observers have pointed to past global errors, such as premature reports about high-value militant deaths. But the presidency said those examples underscore how intelligence work evolves, not that confirmed operations should be dismissed out of hand.

“Intelligence in asymmetric warfare is inherently messy: aliases, mobile networks, and civilian blends complicate identification,” it noted. “That’s why our processes are deliberately stringent, and why we won’t rush public confirmation until the evidence is solid.”

It warned that public dismissal of validated joint operations—especially those conducted with international partners—can damage operational morale and weaken strategic messaging at a critical time.

“Nigeria’s armed forces and partner agencies operate in one of the world’s most complex insurgency environments,” the statement concluded.

“Undermining credible operations risks the gains we’ve made. We must allow verified intelligence to guide public statements.”

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