The Presidency has dismissed what it described as needless controversy surrounding the reported killing of Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, a senior commander of the Islamic State, ISIS.
Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok or Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, was reportedly neutralized during a recent joint military operation involving Nigerian and United States forces.
Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy in a statement issued on Saturday titled: “On the Killing of ISIS Commander Al-Manuki,” the controversy surrounding the operation exposed the gulf between the public sceptics and the realities of modern counterterrorism operations.
Onanuga noted that doubters of the operation rushed to question the authenticity of the claim, but security sources insisted such reactions were premature, unwarranted and not grounded in the full operational context.
He acknowledged that Al-Manuki’s name had earlier appeared among suspected ISWAP and Boko Haram commanders reportedly killed during operations around Birnin Gwari forest in Kaduna State in 2024.
Onanuga, however, stressed that security officials clarified that the earlier report resulted from mistaken identity or misattribution in the fog of sustained counterinsurgency operations.
He said that officials further explained that the Birnin Gwari theatre was never within Al-Manuki’s established operational sphere thereby weakening the accuracy of the earlier assessment.
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Onanuga stated that intelligence authorities now possessed a far higher level of confidence regarding the latest operation against the insurgent commander.
According to intelligence sources, the operation followed prolonged Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance efforts supported by communications monitoring and phone intercepts dating back to December 2025.
“The intelligence trail, according to sources familiar with the mission, did not emerge overnight.
“Rather, it was built over months of persistent tracking, digital surveillance, and human intelligence inputs,” he said.
The presidential spokesperson said security officials disclosed that authorities initially focused on capturing Al-Manuki alive, explaining why he was reportedly tracked in locations including Abuja and Maiduguri before the operation.
He said that the coordinated effort reflected sustained pressure on the insurgent leader while intelligence units carefully avoided premature exposure of the operation.
The presidency said that unlike previous reports, security authorities insisted the latest strike involved a significantly higher degree of precision, target validation, and multi-source intelligence confirmation before authorization of the final operation.
Onanuga said that officials maintained that several layers of verification were conducted before the strike, making the latest operation different from earlier incidents requiring subsequent battlefield reassessment.
“In their assessment, ‘this time, there is no ambiguity,” Onanuga stated, adding that intelligence authorities remained “100 per cent certain” about the success of the operation.
The presidency noted that counterterrorism operations globally often face uncertainty because insurgent groups operate with aliases, fragmented identities and across difficult civilian-populated terrains.
Onanuga said that while public scrutiny remained important in democratic societies, security experts warned that premature dismissal of military operations could undermine operational morale and ongoing counterterrorism efforts.
NAN
