The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has broken its silence on the controversy surrounding the identity of Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, a terrorist commander killed during a joint counterterrorism operation involving Nigerian and American forces.
US President Donald Trump had announced the killing of the commander whom he described as the “most active terrorist in the world”.
President Bola Tinubu also confirmed the killing, saying he looked forward to more collaboration with the US.
However, GISTSMATE MEDIA spotted that two years ago, the Defence Headquarters listed Al-Manuki among terrorists neutralised between January and March 2024.
Addressing journalists at Defence Headquarters in Abuja, then Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, had described Minuki as head of Is-Al Furqan Province (ISGS and ISWAP).
According to Buba, Minuki popularly known as Abubakar Mainok among his criminal gang members, operated along Birnin Gwari Forest in Kaduna State as well as the Abuja Kaduna Highway.
The former Defence spokesman said the terror commander was killed on February 21, 2024.
Buba had claimed that over 50 combatants which included Kachallah Alhaji Dayi, Kachallah Idi (Namaidaro), Kachallah Kabiru (Doka), Kachallah Azarailu (Farin-Ruwa), Kachallah Balejo, Ubangida, Alhaji Baldu, among several others, were all killed within that period.
The public had expressed shock over the coincidence.
On his part, Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, had defended the military, arguing that intelligence gathering in counterterrorism operations was often imperfect and subject to evolving realities.
He also cited global examples, including previous inaccurate reports surrounding former ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, before his eventual death was confirmed years later.
“For example, even in the global campaign against ISIS leadership, early reports of the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi were later proven incorrect, with his actual death confirmed four years after the first successful killing was announced,” he said in a statement.
But in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja, the Director of Defence Information, Samaila Uba, said the use of identical names, aliases, and nom de guerre is common among fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram.
According to him, insurgents often adopt similar identities as part of efforts to conceal their true identities and complicate intelligence tracking.
Uba stated that the Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki eliminated on May 16, 2026, had been positively identified through credible human intelligence and technical surveillance.
He described the neutralised commander as a senior global operative within the Islamic State network with direct involvement in international terrorist coordination, financing, and operations across the Sahel region.
“There is no ambiguity regarding the identity of the individual neutralised in the recent operation,” he stated.
He urged members of the public and the media to rely on verified information from official sources to avoid confusion arising from similarities in names used by terrorist groups.
The DHQ also reaffirmed the commitment of the Nigerian military to sustaining pressure on insurgent groups and dismantling terrorist networks operating across the region.
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