JUST IN: At Last, Burkina Faso Releases 11 Nigerian Officers Detained After Controversial Air Force Landing
urkina Faso has released 11 Nigerian military officers detained after their Air Force transport aircraft made what the authorities described as an unauthorised landing in the country, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Business Insider reports that the officers were allowed to return home after Burkinabè authorities completed preliminary checks, conducted amid suspicions of their involvement in the Benin coup rescue.
The officers, two crew members and nine military passengers, were aboard a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) C-130 that landed on Monday in the western city of Bobo-Dioulasso.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government described the stop as a technical emergency landing while the aircraft was en route to Portugal.
Burkinabè authorities, however, countered that the aircraft violated national procedures by entering the country’s airspace without authorisation.
Territorial Administration Minister Emile Zerbo said the sudden arrival triggered an immediate security response.
“The aircraft flew into Burkina Faso without clearance,” he stated, adding that the situation warranted rapid intervention by defence and intelligence units.
The military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, united under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), issued a joint statement late Monday describing the incident as a confirmed “violation of its airspace and the sovereignty of its member states.”
The bloc labelled Nigeria’s action an “unfriendly act” and announced that its air forces had been placed on maximum alert with orders to neutralise any aircraft that breached AES-controlled airspace.
Despite the fiery rhetoric, Burkinabè security officials told the BBC that the Nigerian officers were questioned, cleared, and later permitted to depart.
The Nigerian Air Force offered a mild and diplomatic version of events, saying a technical fault compelled the crew to divert in accordance with international aviation safety procedures.
The NAF insisted its personnel were safe and had received cordial treatment from the host authorities, but stopped short of confirming whether the officers had been detained.
However, relations between Nigerian government and the AES governments have deteriorated sharply over the last year.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, each led by a military junta, have accused Nigeria of overreaching in regional security operations, especially in Benin, where Nigeria has helped coordinate interventions against coup threats.
The three states withdrew from ECOWAS earlier this year, accusing the bloc, led by Nigeria, of political interference and failing to confront jihadist violence.
Since then, the juntas have deepened military and political cooperation within the AES, pushed out several Western partners including France, and moved closer to Russia for security support.
Meanwhile, in a related development, Niger introduced new restrictions on goods entering from Nigeria, citing heightened security concerns and suspicions over Nigerian military activity across the Sahel.
“For security requirements, all goods originating from Nigeria must be unloaded and inspected at the entry offices before any transit formalities,” said Colonel Mohamed Yacouba Siddo in a directive issued Tuesday.
SaharaReporters previously reported that Burkina Faso’s ruling junta had detained 11 Nigerian military officers and seized a Nigerian Air Force C-130 transport aircraft after it made an emergency landing in Bobo Dioulasso on Monday, allegedly without clearance to enter the country’s airspace.
The incident, which has raised fresh tensions between Abuja and the military regimes in the Sahel, was disclosed in a late-night statement issued by the AES.
