By The Defence headquarters has provide clarification regarding the neutralisation of a high profile terrorist commander, Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki during a joint operation with the United States of Africa command on 16 May, 2026.
Yesterday, Afriktimes reported that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu confirmed the elimination of the wanted Islamic state senior leader. He commended personnel from both Nigeria and the U.S for their professionalism and courage. U.S president Donald Trump also confirmed the operation via his X account. Both leaders stated that the neutralisation occurred in the Lake Chad Basin.
According to the clarification signed by Samaila Uba, it stated that the reports about the elimination of a terrorist commander bearing the same name was similar to the operation that occured in 2024, “this has understandably generated questions about the identity of the individual recently neutralized” the statement reads.
The statement highlighted similar cases where terrorist use identical names in obscuring identities
“It is important to state that within the North East region and across the Lake Chad Basin, the use of similar or identical names, aliases and nom de guerres is common among ISWAP and Boko Haram terrorists.
This is essentially part of their indoctrination program which is aimed at deliberately obscuring identities. This fact has been established over the years in the course of counter terrorism operations in the Northeast of Nigeria.”
Furthermore, the Defence headquarters affirmed that the Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki has been verified.
“The Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki eliminated on 16 May, 2026 has been positively identified through human intelligence and technical surveillance as a senior global operative within the Islamic state network, with direct links to international terrorist coordination, funding and operations across the Sahel. There is therefore no ambiguity in his identity”
They urged the general public and the media to rely on their sources to avoid “confusion” from name similarities. They promised that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, in partnership with the United States remain committed in the neutralization of terrorist and assure the public by providing verified information through official Channels.
