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

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

The officers, two crew members and nine passengers, were held for interrogation over suspicions that the flight was linked to the recent failed coup incident in Benin Republic. They were later cleared and have since returned to Nigeria.

While Abuja maintained that the aircraft made a technical emergency landing en route to Portugal, Burkinabe officials insisted the flight entered their airspace without prior clearance, prompting an immediate security response. Burkina Faso’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Emile Zerbo, confirmed that authorities acted in line with national security protocols.

In a joint statement, the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, operating under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), described the incident as a violation of sovereign airspace and an “unfriendly act.” The bloc said the episode had placed their air forces on heightened alert.

The Nigerian Air Force, however, maintained that the crew adhered to international aviation safety procedures and noted that its personnel were treated with decorum during the detention.

The development marked another strain in the already tense relations between Nigeria and the AES, which recently announced its withdrawal from ECOWAS.