The Presidency has defended the reported elimination of senior ISWAP commander Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, insisting that the latest Nigerian-American military operation was intelligence-driven, thoroughly verified and “100 per cent certain”.
The Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Saturday, said doubters’ assumptions on the operation exposed “the gulf between the public sceptics and the realities of modern counterterrorism operations.”
Onanuga noted that some critics had questioned the authenticity of the operation, citing previous reports in 2024 which listed Al-Manuki among suspected ISWAP/Boko Haram commanders killed during operations around the Birnin Gwari forest axis in Kaduna State.
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He asserted that security sources clarified that the earlier report was a case of mistaken identity or misattribution during sustained counterinsurgency operations, stressing that Birnin Gwari was never within Al-Manuki’s operational space.
The Presidential aide further highlighted that security and military authorities now maintain a far higher level of confidence in the latest operation, which followed prolonged Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) efforts supported by communications monitoring and phone intercepts that reportedly began in December 2025.
He explained that the operation was built on months of persistent tracking, digital surveillance and human intelligence inputs aimed at mapping Al-Manuki’s movements across key locations in northern Nigeria.
Onanuga also revealed that security officials further disclosed that initial efforts were focused on capturing the ISWAP commander alive, which he said accounted for the sustained surveillance reportedly conducted in locations including Abuja and Maiduguri before the final operation.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy hinted that intelligence units had worked to narrow the target’s movements while avoiding premature exposure of the mission.
He also said that the latest strike differed from earlier reports adding that it involved a significantly higher degree of precision, target validation and multi-source intelligence confirmation.
Mr Onanuga also maintained that several layers of verification were conducted before authorisation of the final kinetic action, insisting that “this time, there is no ambiguity”.
He further addressed comparisons with previous counterterrorism cases where high-profile insurgent leaders were wrongly declared dead, cautioning against using such incidents to dismiss every confirmed operation.
Onanuga cited the example of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose death was confirmed years after earlier reports had emerged, noting that such developments reflected the evolving and often imperfect nature of intelligence gathering in asymmetric warfare.
The Presidency further cautioned that undermining credible joint operations involving Nigerian forces and international partners could weaken public confidence in ongoing counterterrorism efforts.
He added that Nigeria’s armed forces and foreign intelligence partners continued to operate in a complex insurgency environment where targets frequently moved across borders, adopted multiple identities and operated within civilian-populated areas.
While acknowledging the importance of public scrutiny in a democracy, the Presidential spokesperson cautioned that premature dismissal of military claims could undermine operational morale and strategic messaging.
