Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a blunt ultimatum to Nigeria on Saturday following the killing of ISIS’s global second-in-command in a joint U.S.-Nigerian operation, warning that the United States would take matters into its own hands if the Nigerian government failed to stop the slaughter of Christians within its borders.
The warning came in the aftermath of a strike carried out overnight Friday into Saturday at the direction of President Trump, which killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki in Metele, Borno State. Trump announced the operation in a Truth Social post late Friday, writing that U.S. and Nigerian forces “flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield,” and that 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.”
Hegseth responded to Trump’s announcement with language that left little room for ambiguity. “Yes sir. The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria — and anywhere — must end immediately,” he wrote. “The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
In a longer statement posted on X Saturday morning, Hegseth connected the operation directly to a directive Trump had issued months prior. “Last night U.S. forces, in coordination with the Armed Forces of Nigeria, killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki and other ISIS leaders,” he wrote. “Back in November 2025, President Trump declared to the world that we will help protect Christians in Nigeria and instructed the Department of War to prepare for action. So, for months, we hunted this top ISIS leader in Nigeria who was killing Christians, and we killed him — and his entire posse.”
Hegseth described al-Minuki as “the senior ISIS General Directorate of Provinces Emir — the number two for ISIS globally — responsible for overseeing the planning of attacks, directing hostage-taking and managing financial operations,” and said his removal along with other ISIS personnel “makes Americans safer by further degrading ISIS’s ability to plan and carry out attacks that threaten the U.S. homeland, American citizens, and innocent civilians.”
He closed with a message directed at anyone who might consider themselves beyond the reach of American forces. “Operations like last night’s demonstrate the exceptional lethality, patience and skill of U.S. forces, amplified alongside willing and capable partners, to address shared threats,” Hegseth wrote. “This should serve as a reminder that we will hunt down those who wish to harm Americans or innocent Christians, wherever they are.”
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu confirmed the strike on Saturday, calling it a “significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism.” Tinubu said early assessments confirmed the elimination of al-Minuki — also known as Abu-Mainok — along with several of his lieutenants, in a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin. The Nigerian Army said the operation ran from approximately 12:01 a.m. to 4 a.m. and was completed with no casualties or loss of assets.
Al-Minuki, a Nigerian national, had been designated a “specially designated global terrorist” by the Biden administration in 2023. When placing him on the list, the State Department identified him as a senior ISIS official in the Sahel and a member of the General Directorate of Provinces, the body through which ISIS central provides financial and operational direction to its global affiliates. The Jerusalem PostRepublic World
The backdrop to Hegseth’s warning is a pattern of violence that has intensified across Nigeria’s northeast for nearly two decades. ISIS’s West Africa branch operates primarily in northeastern Nigeria and throughout the Lake Chad region, using ambushes, military-style assaults, roadside bombs, kidnappings, and targeted killings against civilian and military targets alike. Borno State, where Friday’s strike occurred, has been the epicenter of that violence, with the conflict displacing roughly 2 million people over the course of the insurgency. DNI
Over two-thirds of the Islamic State’s global activity in the first half of 2025 was recorded in Africa, underscoring why the administration has made the continent a growing focus of U.S. counterterrorism operations. With the elimination of al-Minuki, Hegseth’s message to the Nigerian government — and to ISIS — was that Friday’s strike was not a one-time action, but a demonstration of what the United States is prepared to continue doing. ACLED