Burkina Faso has announced that it grounded Nigerian military aircraft on Monday, December 8, 2025, sparking a major diplomatic row and military tensions between the two West African nations and their regional backers.
The Government of Burkina Faso said a Nigerian Air Force aircraft carrying 11 soldiers was forced to land in the country on Monday after reportedly violating its airspace.
The Burkinabé state news agency, Agence d’Information du Burkina (AIB), published a statement from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, confirming the forced landing.
The statement claimed that an investigation highlighted the “absence of authorisation” to fly over Burkinabé territory, despite the Nigerian Air Force claiming an in-flight emergency forced the deviation.
The three AES countries currently led by military juntas condemned the action of the Nigerian military aircraft with “the utmost firmness,” calling it a blatant regional airspace violation and a breach of the sovereignty of its member states.
The statement, translated from French, reads in part: “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, Monday, 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 added that an investigation by Burkinabe authorities “highlighted the absence of authorisation to fly over the territory of Burkina Faso for this military device.”
This digital magazine understands that AES and ECOWAS don’t see eye to eye on many issues currently confronting the region since AES countries pulled out of the traditional regional bloc ECOWAS in September 2023.
The grounding of a Nigerian war plane by Burkina Faso is set to further test regional diplomacy or a lack of it between ECOWAS and AES as the latter now runs in parallel to ECOWAS which is currently plagued by insecurity-cum-Islamist terrorism and a collapse of democratic values in member-states.
Already AES has said it “condemns with the utmost firmness this violation of its airspace and the sovereignty of its member States.”
The body warned that “air and anti-aircraft defences of the Confederate space put on maximum alert…were authorised to neutralise any aircraft that would violate the Confederate space.”
Meanwhile, as of press time, no official comment has been issued yet by the Nigerian Air Force or the Nigerian government.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that Burkina Faso grounded the Nigerian military aircraft a few days after the administration of President Bola Tinubu conducted a military action in the Republic of Benin over a coup attempt.
Tinubu, who is also the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), stated that the deployment of the Nigerian troops to the Benin Republic was a direct and necessary response to safeguard regional stability and constitutional order in the neighboring country.
Recall that on Sunday, a group of soldiers identifying themselves as the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR), led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, appeared on state television to announce the dissolution of all state institutions and the removal of President Patrice Talon.
Benin’s government later announced that the coup attempt had been suppressed and control restored.
Speaking of the development, Tinubu confirmed that the deployment of the Nigerian troops to the Benin Republic came at the request of the Beninese Government, which sought Nigerian air support for surveillance, airspace control, and rapid intervention against the coup plotters.
A statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu, acting on the request, ordered Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to take control of Benin’s airspace and assist in flushing out the mutineers from strategic locations, including the national broadcaster and a military camp.
