What we know about how Islamic State leader Mainok was killed in Nigeria

Security operatives tracked Mr Mainok’s movements across multiple locations in northern Nigeria, including Abuja and Maiduguri, while attempting to avoid compromising the operation prematurely.

Additional details have emerged on the operation that led to the killing of Abubakar Mainok, a senior commander of the Islamic State, in what Nigerian authorities describe as one of the most intelligence-driven counterterrorism missions conducted in recent years.

Mr Mainok’s death was first announced by US President Donald Trump. About two hours later, President Bola Tinubu corroborated his US counterpart, saying the terror leader was killed in his compound in the Lake Chad region.

Mr Tinubu commended Nigerian troops and their American partners involved in the mission, saying the operation demonstrated the growing effectiveness of intelligence-led security operations against extremist groups.

The president also reiterated his administration’s commitment to strengthening regional and international cooperation against terrorism.

The operation, carried out jointly by troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), a joint task force in the North-east, and the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), targeted Mr Mainok at Metele, a border community in Borno State near the Niger Republic.

AFRICOM later released footage of the battle damage assessment.

While officials insist the operation successfully eliminated Mr Mainok, the announcement also reignited debate because the same figure had previously been declared killed by the military in 2024. The government, however, says the 2024 declaration was made in error.

This story puts together what different officials said about the operation, the surveillance that preceded it, and the controversy surrounding Mr Mainok’s death.

Months of intelligence surveillance

According to the Nigerian presidency, the operation that killed Mr Mainok followed months of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) efforts involving Nigerian and American security agencies.

Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said in a statement on Saturday that intelligence operatives began tracking the ISWAP commander as far back as December 2025 through communications intercepts, digital monitoring and human intelligence networks.

He stated that security officials said the operation evolved gradually through persistent surveillance rather than a single intelligence breakthrough.

According to the presidential spokesperson, security operatives tracked Mr Mainok’s movements across multiple locations in northern Nigeria, including Abuja and Maiduguri, while attempting to avoid compromising the operation prematurely.

Mr Onanuga said security agencies initially wanted to capture him alive, which partly explains why he remained under observation for an extended period before the final strike was authorised.

He added that intelligence units narrowed his movements through “multi-layered verification” before approving what the presidency described as the final “kinetic action.”

The Metele operation

The Nigerian military said the operation was conducted around Metele in Borno State, a strategic border area long associated with insurgent activity around the Lake Chad basin.

Sani Uba, the spokesperson for Operation Hadin Kai, in a statement, described the raid as a “meticulously planned and highly complex precision air-land operation” involving coordinated ground and aerial assaults.

According to him, the operation targeted senior ISWAP commanders and logistical hubs linked to the extremist network.

Although operational details remain limited, security officials said the mission relied heavily on precision targeting and intelligence validation before execution.

The Defence Headquarters stated that the operation highlighted growing counterterrorism cooperation between Nigeria and the United States, following renewed security collaboration between the two countries.

The controversy

While the Nigerian authorities celebrate this achievement, many Nigerians questioned the veracity of the terror leader’s killing. This doubt stemmed from a 2024 statement by the Defence Headquarters, which announced that it had killed Mr Mainok alongside some terrorists in Birnin Gwari forest in Kaduna State.

In response, the presidency acknowledged the earlier announcement but said it resulted from mistaken identity or inaccurate battlefield attribution during complex counterinsurgency operations.

According to Mr Onanuga, intelligence assessments later showed that Birnin Gwari was never part of Mr Mainok’s established operational sphere, weakening confidence in the earlier claim.

The presidency insists the latest operation underwent far stricter verification procedures involving multiple intelligence sources before public confirmation.

“This time, there is no ambiguity,” Mr Onanuga said.

However, this is not the first time the Nigerian military has announced the death of a terrorist leader that turned out to be false.

Abubakar Shekau, the former leader of Boko Haram, was declared dead about six times by military authorities between 2009 and 2021. Most times, he would resurface in propaganda videos to mock these claims until his confirmed death in May 2021 during a clash with rival ISWAP fighters.

Defending the Saturday operation against public scepticism, Mr Onanuga said doubts over the killing ignored the realities of modern counterterrorism warfare, where insurgent commanders frequently operate under aliases, move across territories and rely on misinformation to evade detection.

Overall, the details released by Nigerian authorities, including the timeline of surveillance, communications intercepts, and international coordination, suggest a higher degree of confidence that Mr Mainok was indeed killed.

Who was Mainok?

Mr Mainok, also known as Abu-Bilal Al-Mainuki or Abu-Mainok, was regarded as a key figure within ISWAP and part of the broader Islamic State network operating in West Africa.

American authorities designated him a global terrorist in 2023.

According to security assessments, he later rose to head Al-Furqan, an Islamic State structure linked to coordinating activities of extremist affiliates in West Africa.

His influence reportedly extended beyond Nigeria into the wider Lake Chad region, where ISWAP maintains operational cells.

Mr Mainok’s portrait had not been released either by Nigerian or US authorities. However, the Nigerian Army earlier stated that battle damage assessment was ongoing while troops had commenced “aggressive follow-on exploitation operations” targeting possible splinter groups and preventing regrouping attempts.