Authorities in Burkina Faso have detained 11 Nigerian military personnel after a Nigerian Air Force C-130 transport aircraft made an emergency landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, a city in the country’s southwest.
The incident was disclosed in a statement issued by the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), shared on X by security analyst Brant Grant on Monday night. According to the alliance, the aircraft entered Burkinabe airspace without authorization before landing unexpectedly.
AES described the incident as a violation of its restricted airspace and said the Nigerian crew was taken into custody immediately after the landing. The regime also cautioned that any unidentified or unapproved aircraft attempting to enter the joint airspace of the AES nations Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger would face “neutralization.”
The development coincides with heightened regional tensions following the attempted coup in Benin Republic on Sunday. In response to the unrest, Nigeria had deployed military aircraft toward its western neighbour as part of efforts to monitor and respond to the situation.
Neither the Nigerian government nor the Nigerian Air Force had issued an official reaction at the time of filing this report.
