Ololade Adeyanju/
United States Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, has said President Donald Trump personally directed the Pentagon to prioritise the protection of Christians in Nigeria targeted by Islamic State-linked militants.
He revealed that the effort contributed to the killing of a senior ISIS commander in the country.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday, Hegseth said Trump instructed the War Department about a year ago to intensify efforts against extremist groups responsible for attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria.
According to Hegseth, the operation eventually led to the death of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, identified by U.S. officials as ISIS’ global second-in-command and a leading figure in the group’s operations in West Africa.
“And over the past month, and there hasn’t been much coverage of this, we killed ISIS’ number two, who was most responsible for killing Christians and trying to target the U.S. homeland,” Hegseth said.
The claim follows a joint announcement earlier this month by the United States and Nigerian governments confirming that al-Minuki was killed during a coordinated operation in northeastern Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin.
Newsmakerslive.org reported that the operation involved U.S. Africa Command working alongside Nigerian forces in Borno State, an area that has suffered years of insurgent violence linked to both Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
President Donald Trump and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu both described the raid as a major counterterrorism success.
Nigerian authorities said the operation was completed without casualties among allied troops.
Hegseth also disclosed that intelligence gathered during the mission helped security forces identify and eliminate “hundreds” of ISIS fighters allegedly connected to attacks on Christians and threats against American interests.
The U.S. Africa Command had earlier announced that its May 16 operation targeted several senior ISIS figures in northeastern Nigeria.
AFRICOM described the mission as evidence of growing military cooperation between Washington and Abuja in tackling jihadist groups operating across the Sahel and Lake Chad regions.
The United States expanded its military presence in Nigeria earlier this year, with additional American personnel deployed to support intelligence gathering, surveillance and counterterrorism training operations.
Nigerian officials stressed at the time that foreign assistance must respect the country’s sovereignty and that the insurgency affects Nigerians of all religious backgrounds.
However, attacks on churches and Christian communities by Islamist factions have remained a major source of international concern.
Hegseth praised Trump for authorising operations that he said often receive little public attention.
“There’s a lot of things we do that the media pays attention to, and a lot of things that the president empowers the Department to do on behalf of the American people that he deserves great credit for,” he said.
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