Freedom, finally

 Burkinabe authorities, mid-last week, let go 11 Nigerian soldiers they had taken into custody for alleged violation of that country’s airspace. The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) C-130 transport aircraft that was impounded along with the military personnel was also released.

Freedom came for the soldiers and aircraft following high-level diplomatic engagement by the Nigerian government with Ouagadougou. Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar, on Wednesday, met with Burkina Faso junta leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, in the country’s capital. Tuggar, who led a Nigerian delegation, said at a parley with pressmen that the visit was at the instance of President Bola Tinubu.

It was on the heels of the Ouagadougou meeting that the freedom deal was announced. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, confirmed on Wednesday night that the aircraft and personnel had been released.

The C-130 NAF aircraft carrying nine passengers and two crew members got impounded on 8th December following an emergency landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso’s second largest city. Initial reports said the aircraft was grounded by Burkinabe authorities for unauthorised incursion into the country’s airspace. Officials of the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) disclosed that preliminary investigations indicated that the aircraft lacked authorisation to fly through Burkina Faso’s airspace. AES is the breakaway umbrella body formed by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic after they pulled out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for reason of coming under military rule.

A joint statement by the junta alliance said investigation by Burkinabe authorities showed the aircraft did not obtain required authorisation to fly over their territory – something the body condemned as a breach of the sovereignty of its member-state. Speaking for the confederation, General Assimi Goïta of Mali described the NAF aircraft landing in Burkina Faso as an “unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law,” and he warned that member-states had been authorised to neutralise any aircraft violating their airspace henceforth.

The alarm of the AES states was obviously fuelled by the timing of the emergency landing in Burkina Faso – coming just a day after Nigerian airstrikes in Benin Republic that were instrumental in foiling an attempted coup against President Patrice Talon. On the previous day, the Nigerian government had deployed fighter jets and ground forces in the neighbouring country to help loyal troops thwart an attempted coup by dislodging soldiers led by Colonel Pascal Tigri, who had seized the national broadcaster and announced suspension of the democratic order. Acting on requests from the government of Benin, President Tinubu ordered NAF fighter jets to enter the country and take over the airspace to dislodge the coupists from the national television station and a military camp where they regrouped, according to official statement. Within hours, loyal Benin forces aided by Nigerian troops reclaimed the national broadcaster and put down the coup attempt.

But the C-130 aircraft that was in Burkina Faso was neither on military operation nor espionage mission, according to the Nigerian military. It was on a ferry mission to Portugal, and it made a precautionary landing because the crew detected a technical issue shortly after take-off from Lagos on 8th December. In a statement, NAF spokesperson, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, explained that the crew’s diversion to the nearest airfield was in line with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols. “Following take-off from Lagos, the crew observed a technical concern that necessitated a precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, the nearest airfield, in accordance with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols,” he said, assuring that the personnel were safe and were being well treated by the host authorities.

“Junta-led countries of the sub-region may have brewed enough resentment to stand up to Nigeria…whenever they perceive a red line crossed”

In a later statement, Ejodame fought back speculations that the aircraft was on intelligence mission in Burkina Faso, and that the personnel were intelligence officers trained in espionage who were on a clandestine intelligence operation. “The aircraft in question was on a duly authorised ferry flight to Portugal for scheduled periodic depot maintenance, a routine and mandatory lifecycle requirement for military transport aircraft and, therefore, had no operational tasking or mission of any kind,” he affirmed. “The flight was covered by necessary flight documentation, including provisions for diversion in line with international aviation procedures. The precautionary landing at Bobo-Dioulasso was initiated strictly on safety grounds, in full compliance with standard aviation protocols. At no time was the aircraft intercepted, forced to land, or found operating without authorisation, and claims of airspace violation or hostile intent are fabrications intended to misinform and inflame public sentiment,” he added.

According to the NAF spokesperson, the personnel on board were “standard aircrew and mission-support officers conducting a legitimate military air movement, not intelligence operatives, and the aircraft was not equipped with surveillance or data-collection systems of any kind.” He  stated, however, that matters relating to the aircraft and its personnel were being handled through established diplomatic channels, and in line with international norms and bilateral relations.

Well, diplomacy triumphed: the personnel and aircraft were let out after 10 days in custody. There are instructive takeaways, however. One is that junta-led countries of the sub-region may have brewed enough resentment to stand up to Nigeria, the biggest power within the bloc, whenever they perceive a red line crossed. It is almost like Venezuela standing up to the United States in the Americas. Whether they have the real capacity to live up that dare is another matter, though. With better intention, Burkina Faso could have verified that the aircraft was not equipped for any hazardous mission and that the personnel on board were non-combatants, and not hold them in custody until a diplomatic reprieve.

Then, there was the gang-up factor in AES that made the precautionary landing at Bobo-Dioulasso to be viewed, not as potential violation against just Burkina Faso but the entire junta alliance. Notice that the three member-states of the alliance reacted concertedly and spoke jointly all through, not leaving the matter to Burkinabe authorities. It was Mali’s Goïta who called out the NAF aircraft emergency landing as an unfriendly act and served notice that AES member-states were poised to neutralise any aircraft violating their airspace henceforth. In effect, they served notice of a joint survival bond whereby assault on any singular member of their alliance is deemed an assault on all – the same creed espoused by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) alliance where attack on any member-nation is taken to be an attack on all warranting a collective response.

Contrast that, for a moment, with the disposition within ECOWAS. Even though the sensitivity of the AES states to the NAF aircraft’s landing in Bobo-Dioulasso was accentuated by Nigeria’s role in thwarting the attempted coup in Benin, which was openly applauded by the regional body, the task of sorting out with Burkina Faso fell on Nigeria solely. And so, you never heard ECOWAS as a body or any member-state speaking up for Nigeria in rejoinder to the AES, or joining in negotiating the release of the seized personnel and aircraft. Maybe ECOWAS needs to learn about forging a united front against external threats to its member-states.

Besides, the Bobo-Dioulasso incident highlighted the level of estrangement that has taken place within the sub-region. From being fellow members of the same bloc of interests under ECOWAS, the junta alliance now views other countries as potential enemies that stage “unfriendly” acts and deserve being neutralised in the event of future encounters. But that ill-will was only skin deep, apparently, because all three AES states yet maintain embassies in Nigeria, among others, to manage bilateral relations, trade and consular services. Nigeria also maintains diplomatic presence in those countries to promote regional cooperation.

There were speculations that the Sahel states wanted to use the occasion as a bargaining chip to get some relief from the hurtful blockade of trade and movement of goods and services that ECOWAS imposed on them, which they believed Nigeria was in a position to influence within the bloc. That might well be so, but it did not justify their inflaming public passion with allegations of enemy action levelled against Nigeria. Regimes may come and go, but citizens will always live and inter-relate across country borderlines. No government should seek to upend that.