FACTS HAVE NOW SPOKEN — THIS WAS NEVER ESPIONAGE, NEVER HOSTAGE-TAKING, NEVER “COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE.”

 

 

With the confirmed release of the 11 Nigerian Air Force personnel by Burkina Faso after diplomatic engagement, it is now appropriate to restate the issue calmly and factually - stripped of propaganda, emotion and online theatrics.

1. This was an aviation safety incident, not a covert operation. Military aircraft, like civilian ones, are governed by internationally accepted aviation and military protocols. When an aircraft encounters technical, weather, or operational distress, the crew is obligated to land at the nearest suitable airfield. Geography - not ideology, determines that choice.

Landing at Bobo-Dioulasso was dictated by safety and proximity, not surveillance, espionage, or proxy warfare. If this were intelligence activity, it would not involve a large, identifiable military transport aircraft carrying uniformed personnel with documented flight plans.

2. Investigation was legitimate - prolonged political detention was not. Burkina Faso had the right to verify identity, inspect aircraft documentation and confirm mission details. That right was never disputed.

However, once identity, aircraft status and mission profile were established, continued detention without charge drifted away from aviation safety norms into political signalling. The fact that the matter was ultimately resolved through diplomacy, not prosecution, confirms this.

3. “Counter-intelligence” requires evidence, not rhetoric:

No espionage charge was filed.

No hostile equipment was seized.

No intelligence tasking was produced.

No violation beyond an alleged airspace entry under emergency conditions was proven.

Security investigations end with charges or clearance, not indefinite silence. The release itself is the clearest indicator of where the facts actually landed.

4. Diplomacy worked because Nigeria followed the rules. Nigeria did not threaten, posture, or escalate. Instead, it activated state-to-state diplomatic mechanisms, sending a high-level delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar to engage President Ibrahim Traoré.

That approach reaffirmed respect for sovereignty, commitment to regional stability and adherence to international aviation and military norms. The outcome speaks louder than slogans.

5. This episode proves one thing clearly; Aviation law exists precisely so that emergencies do not become conflicts.

Military professionalism exists so that safety incidents do not become wars.

Diplomacy exists so that neighbours resolve issues without humiliation or escalation. That is exactly what happened.

This incident was inflated online into ideology, conspiracy and propaganda.

Reality brought it back to where it always belonged: procedure, verification, diplomacy and release.

Facts won.

Law held.

Lives were protected.

The region remains stable. 

Everything else was noise.

By Sadiq Mohammed