The Burkina Faso government says a Nigerian Air Force aircraft carrying 11 soldiers was forced to land in the country on Monday after allegedly violating its airspace.
The Agence d’Information du Burkina, the state-run news agency, reported the development, citing a statement from the Confederation of Sahel States.
The statement, translated from French, read, “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 (2) crew members and nine (9) passengers on board, all military personnel.”
The statement also disclosed that an investigation by Burkinabe authorities “highlighted the absence of authorization to fly over the territory of Burkina Faso for this military device.”
The AES criticized the event as a breach of sovereignty, stating that it “condemns with the utmost firmness this violation of its airspace and the sovereignty of its member states.”
The commission cautioned that the “air and anti-aircraft defenses of the Confederate space put on maximum alert…were authorized to neutralize any aircraft that would violate the Confederate space.”
The Nigerian Air Force and the Federal Government have yet to make an official remark.
