Abuja, Nigeria – In December 2025, Burkina Faso detained 11 Nigerian Air Force personnel after their C-130 transport aircraft made an emergency landing in Bobo-Dioulasso while travelling to Portugal for scheduled maintenance. Burkina Faso said the aircraft had entered its airspace without the required authorisation, while Nigerian officials said the landing followed a technical problem. The Nigerian Air Force said the precautionary landing was made in accordance with safety procedures.
The aircraft and its 11-member crew were released following diplomatic talks on December 17. They departed Burkina Faso two days later, continuing their journey to Portugal via Ghana. The incident underscored the widening political divide between Nigeria and the three Sahelian countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
The three countries formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in September 2023 through the Liptako-Gourma Charter, establishing a framework for collective defence and mutual assistance. They later withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the regional bloc created to promote economic integration and cooperation in West Africa. Their withdrawal became effective on January 29, 2025.
Bolaji Akinyemi, a professor and former external affairs minister of Nigeria and director-general of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, told Al Jazeera that the region’s current security challenges can in part be traced to the aftermath of the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011. There was no doubt the suspicion as to where the bandits would go. They couldn’t go across the Mediterranean.
They could only come down south. This made Nigeria a target.” “I hope that it will not go beyond where it has gone so far. I hope that good sense and diplomacy will allow these four countries to show maturity,” Akinyemi added.
The dispute comes as security threats facing Nigeria and its Sahelian neighbours continue to overlap. Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) remain active in Nigeria, while ISWAP also operates in southeastern Niger, particularly in the Diffa region. Niger withdrew from the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in March 2025, the regional force created to fight armed groups around the Lake Chad Basin.
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