Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
ABUJA, Nigeria – A day after United States President Donald Trump announced that “brave American forces” together with the Nigerian Armed Forces executed a “complex mission” to eliminate the global second‑in‑command of the Islamic State, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has clarified that no foreign soldier participated in the ground battle that killed Abu‑Bilal al‑Minuki. Major General Michael Onoja, Director of Defence Media Operations, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a monitored television interview on Saturday, May 16, 2026, that the United States provided only intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support. “There were no foreign boots on the ground during this operation. What we received were intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance support and other force enablers,” Onoja stated. He described the mission as a “carefully executed precision strike” and stressed that no Nigerian soldier lost his life in the operation.
The DHQ also addressed a growing controversy over the identity of the slain commander. Some Nigerians recalled that in 2024 the military had announced the killing of an “Abu Bilal al‑Minuki” in Kaduna State, raising questions whether the same person had been declared dead twice. On Saturday, the Director of Defence Information, Samaila Uba, released a statement explaining that the use of identical names, aliases and “nom de guerre” is common among Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram fighters as part of an indoctrination strategy designed to hide their true identities. “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,” Uba said. He added that the confusion between the 2024 operation and the recent one arose from the fact that multiple insurgents adopt the same moniker.
President Trump, writing on his Truth Social platform, had earlier said: “Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield. Abu‑Bilal al‑Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.” Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu also hailed the operation, calling it a “significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism”. The joint operation took place in the Lake Chad Basin, a region where al‑Minuki had coordinated IS‑linked cells across Africa, including the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Reacting to the killing, Kaduna‑based Islamic scholar Sheikh Ahmad Gumi posted on Facebook that “it is a religious obligation to annihilate terrorists, but not with Beelzebub and hands stained with the blood of innocent men, women, and children.” Although he did not name the United States directly, his reference was widely interpreted as condemning American participation in the operation. Gumi argued that any foreign involvement comes with geopolitical baggage and that lasting peace requires addressing poverty, injustice and social exclusion. His remarks have reignited debate over the extent to which Nigeria should accept Western military assistance, even as security analysts welcomed al‑Minuki’s elimination as a major blow to ISIS’s global operations.
The DHQ used the opportunity to warn other terrorist leaders still at large. Major General Onoja specifically named wanted bandit kingpin Bello Turji, saying, “He cannot hide forever. It is only a matter of time.” He urged citizens to support military operations with timely information and warned that ransom payments only strengthen criminal networks. With the controversy over foreign troop involvement now settled by the military’s own admission that “no foreign boots were on the ground”, the focus has shifted to the intelligence cooperation that enabled the precision strike. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) identified al‑Minuki as the “director of global operations” for ISIS and confirmed he was a Nigerian‑born extremist who had been designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US State Department in 2023.
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