By BONIFACE AKARAH

The Presidency on Saturday moved to quell doubts surrounding the reported killing of senior Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commander, Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, insisting that Nigerian and United States intelligence-backed military operations confirmed his elimination with “100 per cent certainty.”

In a State House press statement issued by presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said scepticism trailing the operation ignored the realities of modern counterterrorism and the complexity of intelligence gathering in insurgency warfare.

According to the Presidency, critics who questioned the claim had cited reports suggesting that Al-Manuki—also known as Abu-Mainok or Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki—had previously been listed among terrorists killed in 2024 during military operations around Birnin Gwari forest in Kaduna State.

However, the statement said security authorities had now clarified that the earlier report was a case of mistaken identity or misattribution during active counterinsurgency operations.

“Security officials now clarify that the earlier listing was a case of mistaken identity or misattribution in the fog of sustained counterinsurgency operations,” the statement said.

The Presidency further noted that intelligence findings had established that the Birnin Gwari axis was never part of Al-Manuki’s operational territory, casting doubt on the credibility of the earlier assessment.

Providing insight into the latest operation, the Presidency disclosed that the mission was built on months of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), including communications monitoring and phone intercepts that reportedly began in December 2025.

According to security sources cited in the statement, Al-Manuki had been under prolonged surveillance across several northern locations, including Abuja and Maiduguri, with intelligence units initially prioritising efforts to capture him alive.

“The intelligence trail did not emerge overnight. Rather, it was built over months of persistent tracking, digital surveillance, and human intelligence inputs to map Al-Manuki’s movements,” the statement added.

The Presidency said the final operation differed significantly from previous reports because it involved stricter target validation and multiple layers of intelligence verification before approval for military action.

“Unlike the previous report, security authorities insist that the latest strike was executed with a significantly higher degree of precision, target validation, and multi-source intelligence confirmation,” it stated.

While acknowledging past global counterterrorism cases where wanted insurgent leaders were wrongly declared dead before resurfacing, the Presidency argued that such historical precedents should not be used to dismiss verified military operations.

The statement referenced past uncertainty surrounding slain Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose death was only conclusively confirmed years after initial reports emerged.

“Such cases highlight not failure but rather the evolving, often imperfect nature of intelligence gathering in asymmetric warfare,” the Presidency stated.

It also warned that prematurely dismissing military claims could weaken operational morale and undermine public confidence in ongoing counterterrorism efforts, particularly in a volatile region where insurgents operate across borders, adopt multiple identities and blend into civilian environments.

The Presidency maintained that Nigerian security forces, working with international partners, remained committed to dismantling terrorist networks and insisted that the latest strike represented a verified success against a senior ISWAP figure.

“For now, military authorities remain firm in their position: The latest operation that targeted Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki represents a validated, intelligence-driven success against a senior figure of the Islamic State network,” the statement said.