The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says the use of similar names and aliases among terrorists caused the confusion surrounding reports of the death of Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, ISIS’ second-in-command.
US President Donald Trump announced Al-Minuki’s death in the early hours of Saturday, while President Bola Tinubu later confirmed that the terrorist was killed in an operation carried out jointly by Nigerian and American troops.
Following the announcement, claims surfaced online that the ISIS leader had earlier been declared dead by the Nigerian military in 2024.
However, reacting to the claims in a statement issued on Saturday, Samaila Uba, DHQ’s director of information, said references to an earlier 2024 operation in which a terrorist commander bearing the same name was reportedly killed had generated questions over the identity of the insurgent leader recently neutralised.
Uba said the use of identical names, aliases and nom de guerre is common among terrorist groups operating in the north-east and the Lake Chad Basin.
“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,” the statement reads.
“This is essentially part of their indoctrination programme 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.”
The DHQ director of information said the Al-Minuki killed during the latest operation had been positively identified through human intelligence and technical surveillance.
“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,” he added.
“There is therefore no ambiguity in his identity.”
He described the operation as “a significant milestone” in ongoing counter-terrorism efforts, adding that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, in collaboration with the United States, remained committed to dismantling terrorist networks and would continue to provide verified information through official channels.
He also urged the public and media organisations to rely on official sources to avoid confusion arising from similarities in names among terrorist commanders.
Earlier, the presidency had said reports linking Al-Minuki to a 2024 military operation in Kaduna state were due to mistaken identity.
In a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, the presidency said intelligence later showed that Birnin Gwari forest, where the earlier operation took place, was never within Al-Minuki’s operational territory.
The presidency added that the latest operation followed months of intelligence gathering, surveillance, phone interceptions and human intelligence tracking involving Nigerian and American security operatives.
