By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Correspondent
NIGERIA AIR Force C-130 aircraft carrying 11 military personnel has been forced to land after allegedly entering Burkina Faso’s airspace without authorisation.
The Agence d’Information du Burkina, the state-run news agency, published a statement from the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) detailing the incident.
“The Confederation of Sahel States informs the public that a C130 aircraft belonging to the Air Force of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was forced to land today, December 8, 2025, in Bobo Dioulasso,
Burkina Faso, following an in-flight emergency while operating in Burkinabe airspace. The military aircraft had two crew members and nine passengers on board, all military personnel,” the AES statement said.
Burkinabe authorities launched an investigation, which revealed that the aircraft had not obtained the required clearance to fly over Burkina Faso.
At least 11 Nigerian soldiers remain in the custody of the military regime in Bobo-Dioulasso in the southwest of the country. They were captured after their aircraft conducted an emergency landing while “violating AES airspace,” the AES statement confirmed.
Security analyst Brant Grant shared the AES statement on X on Monday night, confirming the aircraft’s emergency landing and the presence of Nigerian military personnel.
The AES warned that any unauthorized aircraft violating AES airspace would be neutralised.
The incident followed the Nigerian government’s deployment of military aircraft into the Republic of Benin on Sunday after an attempted coup in that neighbouring country.
The AES probe “highlighted the absence of authorisation to fly over the territory of Burkina Faso for this military device,” the statement added.
The regional bloc condemned the incident, describing it as a breach of the sovereignty of its member states. “AES condemns with the utmost firmness this violation of its airspace and the sovereignty of its member States,” the statement said.
The AES also stated that its air and anti-aircraft defence systems had been placed on maximum alert and authorised to neutralise any aircraft violating AES-controlled airspace.
There has been no official response from the Nigerian Air Force or the Federal Government regarding the forced landing.
