Burkina Faso weaponising emergency landing to attack Nigeria after Benin fails coup
The Burkinabè military junta is using the precautionary landing of a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) C-130 aircraft as a pretext to demonstrate growing hostility toward Nigeria, following Abuja’s role in helping avert the recent coup attempt in the Benin Republic.
The continued detention of 10 NAF personnel in Bobo-Dioulasso, despite their aircraft making a technical precautionary landing fully compliant with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations, “confirms a disturbing pattern of petty retaliation, insecurity and reckless behaviour by the Burkinabè junta.”
Emergency landings are globally recognised safety procedures, and ICAO rules demand that aircrews must not only be protected but provided immediate assistance. Burkina Faso’s decision to turn a routine safety measure into a diplomatic confrontation “is nothing short of childish and vindictive.”
The Nigerian Air Force earlier issued a statement confirming that the crew carried out a precautionary landing “in accordance with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols,” and reported receiving cordial treatment at the initial stage. However, diplomatic sources told Zagazola that the continued withholding of the crew contradicts that assurance.
The action by Burkina Faso did not occur in a vacuum. The hostility followed Nigeria’s military intervention that helped Benin Republic’s constitutional order resist a coup attempt widely believed to have had tacit backing or sympathy within elements of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), of which Burkina Faso is a leading member.
The junta’s behaviour was now consistent with a bloc increasingly defined by militarism, paranoia and antagonism toward democratic neighbours, especially Nigeria, whose regional influence has consistently frustrated destabilisation efforts in West Africa.
Detaining an emergency crew is not an accident. It is an act of vengeance. Burkina Faso is attempting to send a message to Nigeria after the failed coup in Benin, but the message only exposes their irresponsibility and insecurity.
Burkina Faso’s conduct is an “embarrassing display of hostility,” warning that weaponising ICAO-governed emergency procedures for political grudges undermines aviation safety across the region.
If the junta’s behaviour is allowed to stand, it could endanger future emergency operations, discourage pilots from declaring technical concerns, and jeopardise lives. If Nigeria were to apply the same hostility, lives would be lost. Burkina Faso’s action is a threat to global aviation safety.
Given the seriousness of the violation, we advised that the Nigerian Government to immediately summon the Burkinabè Ambassador to provide formal explanation for the junta’s “reckless, unprofessional and unlawful” actions. Nigeria must “respond strongly to prevent further AES provocations.”
We also urged West African and international aviation authorities and every other body to condemn this blatant and dangerous breach of global norms,” while insisting that the detained NAF crew must be released immediately and unconditionally.
The world must not allow a reckless military regime to twist an aviation safety incident into a political attack on Nigeria
