Burkina Faso Releases 11 Nigerian Military Officers, Aircraft After Emergency Landing

Burkina Faso has released 11 Nigerian military personnel who were detained after a Nigerian Air Force C-130 aircraft made what authorities in Ouagadougou described as an unauthorised landing at the Bobo-Dioulasso airfield.

The detained officers—comprising two crew members and nine passengers—were questioned over suspicions that the flight might have been connected to the recent failed coup attempt in Benin Republic. They were subsequently cleared and have since returned to Nigeria.

Nigeria maintained that the aircraft was forced to make an emergency technical landing while en route to Portugal. However, Burkinabe officials insisted that the flight entered their airspace without prior clearance, prompting a swift security response. Burkina Faso’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Emile Zerbo, said the authorities acted in line with national security protocols.

In a joint statement, the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—condemned the incident as a breach of sovereign airspace and described it as an “unfriendly act,” noting that it placed their air forces on heightened alert.

The Nigerian Air Force, however, stressed that the crew followed international aviation safety procedures and reported that the detained officers were treated with respect throughout the process.

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The incident adds to growing tensions between Nigeria and the AES bloc, which recently announced its withdrawal from ECOWAS.