The government of Burkina Faso has confirmed that a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) C-130 aircraft was forced to land on Monday, December 8, 2025, after allegedly violating the country’s airspace without authorization.
The aircraft, which carried 11 Nigerian military personnel (two crew and nine passengers), was grounded at Bobo-Dioulasso.
The incident was confirmed via a statement published late Monday by the state news agency, Agence d’Information du Burkina, on behalf of the Confederation of Sahel States (AES)—the alliance consisting of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
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The AES statement acknowledged that the C-130 plane was forced to land today, December 8, 2025, in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, following an in-flight emergency while operating in Burkinabe airspace.
However, a preliminary investigation by Burkinabe authorities concluded that the aircraft did not have permission to fly over Burkinabe territory, leading to its seizure and the detention of the personnel.
The bloc strongly condemned the incident as a violation of the sovereignty of its member states and labeled it an unfriendly act carried out in disregard of international law and international civil and/or military aviation regulations.
The AES communiqué warned that, following the incident, its joint air and anti-aircraft defence systems have been placed on maximum alert.
The bloc issued a serious threat, stating that its defenses were authorised to neutralise any aircraft that would violate the Confederate space, signaling a high escalation of tensions between the military-led alliance and neighboring ECOWAS countries like Nigeria.
The development comes just one day after the Nigerian government deployed NAF aircraft to the Benin Republic to help foil an attempted military coup.
As of Tuesday morning, neither the Nigerian Air Force nor the Federal Government has issued an official statement regarding the grounded aircraft or the detained personnel.
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