On 16 May US President Donald Trump announced the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, reportedly the global second-in-command of terror group Islamic State, in northeast Nigeria.
But in contrast to previous operations, he was careful to praise the Nigerian allies who carried out the operation alongside US troops.
“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,” Trump posted on his Truth Social media account.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu echoed Trump, calling the mission “a significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism”.
Together again
That constructive tone underpins a strengthening counterterrorism partnership between the US and Nigeria, one that seeks to turn Trump’s previous allegations about the killing of Nigerian Christians into military cooperation against Islamic State and other militant groups.
The operation to kill al-Minuki has proved to be a useful focal point for both sides in helping to shape this new relationship.
Rising through the ranks of Boko Haram, the insurgent group that became active in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, the former barber in the town of Mainok was instrumental in the alliance with the Islamic State and the creation of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Having broken with the late Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, his ascent was rapid, becoming, in Trump’s words, “second in command of ISIS globally”.
That made him a prized target for both the Nigerian authorities and the US. In 2023 the US named him a specially designated global terrorist. A year later the Nigerian armed forces claimed to have killed a jihadist leader bearing the same name.
But while the countries shared the same goal of wanting to bring down al-Minuki and stem Islamic militancy in Nigeria, relations became strained in recent months following accusations by Trump that Nigeria was permitting the mass killing of Christians.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump tweeted in November.
Nigeria’s diplomacy pays off
That criticism precipitated a renewed diplomatic push from Nigeria as the Tinubu government sought to re-establish relations. Nigeria’s national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, visited Washington DC in early May for a meeting with top officials, including vice president JD Vance and defence secretary Pete Hegseth, having earlier visited in November.
Evidence that the effort was paying off included Trump’s acknowledgement of the presence of the Nigerian president’s wife, Oluremi Tinubu, at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC in February, describing her as “a respected woman”.
In the same month about 200 US troops arrived in Nigeria’s northern state of Bauchi to help to train Nigerian troops for the fight against terror groups.
The US military has praised its Nigerian ally.
“Nigerians have been instrumental throughout the last several months, developing the target, helping us with the intelligence, and providing support,” Commander Dagvin Anderson of US Africa Command said. “So, it could not have been done by our own forces alone.”
“The operation over the weekend built a lot of that credibility of what the US can bring and those unique capabilities can be brought to bear in conjunction with our partners,” Anderson said.
The targeting of al-Muniki and his group may provide a new template for US military cooperation with local allies against terror groups on the fringes of the Sahara Desert.
The repairing of local alliances has gained renewed importance after the US withdrew from a drone base in Niger in 2024 after the country’s ruling junta ordered nearly 1,000 US military personnel to leave following a coup in the previous year.
“We are using that leverage to engage with other nations, such as those in the Sahel, where the terrorist threat continues to grow, to try to open dialogue so we can address this mutual threat,” Anderson said.
Success scepticism
Some analysts fear that increased US engagement could turn Nigeria into a destination for global jihadist groups.
“The very presence of active US combat troops could provide additional motivation for foreign fighters to continue flowing into Nigeria, seeking to confront Americans on Nigerian soil to inflict damage and exact revenge,” says Malik Samuel, an analyst at Good Governance Africa, a non-profit research and advocacy organisation in Johannesburg.
Samuel argues that there is limited value in decapitation strikes aimed at jihadist leaders.
“The killing of jihadi figureheads, or any insurgent leaders, for that matter, has proven not to be a sustainable panacea,” Samuel said.
“They can be replaced, and always have been.”