In a serious escalation of regional tensions, authorities in Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — the military-led bloc of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — have detained a transport aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) along with 11 Nigerian military personnel, after the plane allegedly violated AES airspace without authorisation.
According to the AES statement, the aircraft — a C-130 transport plane — was forced to land on 8 December 2025 at Bobo-Dioulasso airport in Burkina Faso, following what was described as an “in-flight emergency” while the aircraft was operating in Burkinabè airspace.
An immediate investigation by Burkinabe authorities reportedly found that the aircraft lacked prior authorisation to overfly or enter Burkinabe territory. The AES condemned the flight as a “violation of its airspace and the sovereignty of its member states,” describing it as an “unfriendly” act contrary to international aviation and sovereignty norms.
In response, the AES declared that its air and anti-aircraft defences across its confederation have been placed on maximum alert, and explicitly authorised to “neutralise” any future unauthorised flights traversing AES-controlled airspace.
Coming on the heels of Nigeria’s recent military intervention in neighbouring Benin Republic, foiling a coup attempt on 7 December 2025, many fear for the aircraft and soldiers aboard.
According to reports, a group led by a renegade officer seized the national television station and declared the dissolution of government institutions — an attempt that was swiftly crushed by loyalist forces.
Responding to a request from Beninese authorities, the Nigerian government deployed NAF fighter jets and ground troops, under the auspices of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocols, to help restore constitutional order.
The presidency has defended the intervention as a legitimate response to preserve the democratic order in a neighbouring country — citing requests from Beninese authorities and coordinated operations under ECOWAS.
However, the AES — which left ECOWAS last year — views such regional interventions, especially moving military assets across its airspace, with deep suspicion. The seizure of the Nigerian transport plane is widely interpreted as a warning that AES intends to enforce strict controls over its airspace sovereignty.
The detention of 11 Nigerian soldiers and seizure of the aircraft mark the first known direct confrontation between AES and Nigerian military forces since AES’s exit from ECOWAS. The bloc’s vow to “neutralise” future unauthorised aircraft could escalate into forced downings or military clashes.
Diplomatic relations between Nigeria and AES–member states (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger) are likely to deteriorate, raising the risk of a broader regional standoff, especially if Abuja continues air operations in or near AES airspace.
For Nigeria, the incident complicates its role as a leading security actor in West Africa — balancing its obligations under ECOWAS with the reality of an assertive, separate Sahel military bloc.
The event may also deepen fissures in West African security architecture, as AES and ECOWAS emerge increasingly as competing power centers — with airspace control, military interventions and regional influence at the heart of the dispute.
The grounding of the military transport plane and the detention of 11 of its personnel by AES/Burkina Faso reveal how the December 2025 coup attempt in Benin — and Nigeria’s forceful response — have triggered ripple effects extending beyond Benin’s borders. What should have been a contained intervention seems fast morphing into a broader geopolitical confrontation between two regional groupings, raising pressing questions about sovereignty, regional cooperation and West Africa’s future security architecture.
