Authorities Defend Joint US-Nigeria Operation That Killed Top ISWAP Commander
The Nigerian presidency has defended claims surrounding the reported killing of a senior commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, following public scepticism over the operation announced by U.S. and Nigerian authorities.
U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier announced the success of the joint U.S.-Nigeria operation on social media, describing it as a major counterterrorism breakthrough against ISWAP leadership.
In a statement issued Friday, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said critics questioning the operation may not fully understand the complexity of modern counterterrorism efforts.
According to the presidency, doubts emerged because Al-Manuki’s name had previously appeared among insurgent commanders reportedly killed during operations in Kaduna State in 2024.
However, security officials now say those earlier reports were cases of mistaken identity or inaccurate battlefield assessments.
“The Birnin Gwari theatre was never within Al-Manuki’s established operational sphere,” the statement said, adding that the latest operation involved a “significantly higher degree of precision, target validation, and multi-source intelligence confirmation.”
The presidency said the operation followed months of intelligence gathering, surveillance, communications monitoring, and phone intercepts dating back to December 2025.
Security sources said authorities initially sought to capture the ISWAP commander alive, tracking him across several locations, including Abuja and Maiduguri, before the final strike.
Officials maintained that extensive verification was carried out before the operation was approved.
“This time, there is no ambiguity,” the statement said.
The presidency also dismissed comparisons to previous cases where extremist leaders, including former Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, were wrongly declared dead.
It argued that such cases reflect the challenges of intelligence gathering in asymmetric warfare rather than operational failure.
The presidency warned that dismissing joint operations involving Nigerian forces and international partners could weaken public confidence in ongoing counterterrorism efforts.
It concluded by insisting that the operation targeting Al-Manuki was a “validated, intelligence-driven success” and that authorities are “100 per cent certain” of the outcome.
