Nigeria and U.S. Intelligence Teams Successfully Neutralize al‑Minuki Terrorist Threat

By Augustine Aminu

On Friday, May 15, 2026, the world was jolted by news of the killing of the top commander of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), Abour Mainok, also known as Abu Bilal al‑Minuki. He is considered the second‑in‑command of ISIL (ISIS) globally. The top terrorist commander was reportedly killed during a joint Nigeria‑U.S. Counter‑Terrorism operation in Metele, Borno State.

Since al‑Minuki’s elimination, the Nigeria‑U.S. joint operations have received widespread praise. Posting on his Truth Social handle, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote, “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.” He added, “Al‑Minuki thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”

President Bola Tinubu said that both countries had “recorded a significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism.” He noted that al‑Minuki, along with “several of his lieutenants,” were killed during a strike on his compound in Metele, Borno State. “Nigeria appreciates this partnership with the United States in advancing our shared security objectives,” he added. “I extend my sincere gratitude to President Trump for his leadership and unwavering support in this effort.”

A few days after President Trump praised Nigerian intelligence services for helping to hunt down Abu‑Bilal al‑Minuki, a man he described as “the most active terrorist in the world,” U.S. Air Force General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, Commander of U.S. Africa Command, also spoke highly of Nigeria’s intelligence services.

Anderson remarked, “The Nigerians have been instrumental throughout the last several months, developing the target, helping us with the intelligence and providing support. So, it could not have been done by our own forces. We needed to do that in conjunction with them.”

Security sources who analyzed President Trump’s terse statement, alongside that of General Anderson, pointed out that the “sources” who kept the United States and Nigerian Armed Forces informed of al‑Minuki’s movements may be none other than Nigeria’s intelligence agencies: the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Interestingly, six days before al‑Minuki’s elimination, a significant event occurred in a north‑central town more than 1,100 kilometres away from Metele, Borno State, where al‑Minuki and over 175 of his fighters would meet their Waterloo. While DSS, NIA and DIA operatives were helping U.S. and Nigerian troops monitor al‑Minuki and his fighters around the Lake Chad region, a set of DSS operatives covertly captured a notorious leader of one of ISWAP’s critical cells in Nigeria. His name is Abdulrahman Ozovieh Muhammad, alias Abu Ghozi.

Abu Ghozi, security sources believe, masterminded the December 2020 attack on a military checkpoint in Okene, killing two naval personnel and seizing their weapons. He is also believed to have orchestrated the March 11, 2021 bank robbery at Okuku in Odo‑Otin LGA of Osun State, carried out several attacks on police formations in Okene, Okehi and Adavi LGAs, and targeted security checkpoints along the Okene‑Auchi, Okene‑Kabba and Okene‑Ajaokuta roads.

He is also believed to have been behind several kidnappings, including the October 2025 kidnapping of a Chinese national in Okpella, Edo State, during which eight personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were killed. In January 2026, his group reportedly attacked and burned down the house of the chief priest in the Uhodo area of Okehi LGA. Members of his suspected terrorist group were reportedly preparing to attack detention facilities in Kainji and Abuja to release detained members of their group before his arrest by the DSS.

Security sources believe that Abu Ghozi’s capture by DSS officers may have greatly helped the Nigerian intelligence services (DSS, NIA and DIA) gather further intelligence that was ultimately used to locate al‑Minuki and his fighters six days later in far‑away Metele, Borno State.

No doubt, Nigeria’s intelligence community and its military counterpart again proved invaluable to the recent successes in the global fight against terrorism, helping position Nigeria as a trusted ally in that effort. For the first time since Nigeria began fighting terrorism around 2010, the country has now fully turned the heat on terrorists, smoking them out on a daily basis. The recent successes recorded show that with the Armed Forces increasingly relying on intelligence supplied by the DSS, NIA and DIA, Nigeria will sooner or later overcome its security challenges.

*Aminu has been online editor of several newspapers. He lives in Abuja