A security expert, Zagazola Makama, has dismissed as “reckless fabrication” viral narratives suggesting that a Nigerian Air Force C‑130 aircraft was intercepted by Burkinabè forces while conducting a clandestine intelligence mission, describing the reports as poorly constructed and devoid of factual basis.
The claims circulating online alleging a covert signals intelligence (SIGINT) operation against Burkina Faso involving France are “flatly false,” according to Makama, the expert quoted in a detailed rebuttal.
Makama clarified that the aircraft in question was on a duly authorised ferry flight to Portugal for scheduled depot maintenance, a standard, mandatory requirement in the lifecycle of military transport aircraft.
“This was not an operational mission, not intelligence collection, not ‘hybrid warfare,’ and certainly not a covert intrusion,” he said.
According to several military sources referenced by the expert, the flight carried valid documentation, an approved flight plan, and standard diversion clearance in line with international aviation procedures.
The precautionary landing at Bobo‑Dioulasso, he stressed, was initiated under established aviation safety protocols.
Makama said, “It was not intercepted. It was not forced to land. It did not violate airspace. Claims to the contrary are inventions designed to inflame emotions and harvest outrage.”
He noted that after the landing, the crew was received by the Burkinabè foreign affairs ministry, accommodated in a hotel, and treated properly.
Makama dismantled assertions that Nigeria had packed the C‑130 with “passive electronic surveillance systems” or that personnel onboard were covert intelligence operatives.
He further stated, “Anyone who understands even the basics of modern intelligence operations knows how laughable this is.
“There were no SIGINT systems on board. There were no geolocation specialists masquerading as aircrew. There was no data harvesting of GPS coordinates, frequencies, or radar signatures. The personnel were standard Nigerian Air Force aircrew and mission‑support officers conducting a legitimate military air movement.”
The expert also criticised the tendency to drag France into the narrative, describing it as “the laziest trope in Sahelian disinformation.”
“Every unexplained event now magically becomes ‘French networks operating in the shadows.’ This isn’t analysis; it’s paranoia repackaged as sovereignty,” Makama said.
He emphasised that if every issue is attributed to France, then nothing is actually explained.
Makama also refuted claims that the Nigerian Air Force had announced the release of the crew.
“A check … revealed that no such statement was made. That fiction exists only in the echo chambers of online agitators who confuse repetition with verification,” he noted.
He described the real situation as “mundane”, a fact that, in his view, allows disinformation to thrive.
According to Makama, relevant Nigerian ministries and agencies are “quietly and responsibly managing the situation through diplomatic channels, in accordance with international norms and bilateral relations.”
He added, “Nigeria does not need to spy on Burkina Faso’s military by flying a lumbering transport aircraft into its airspace.
“The idea that Abuja would risk diplomatic rupture, regional instability, and international embarrassment to ‘scan Bobo‑Dioulasso’ is strategic nonsense.”
He reiterated that Nigeria’s most pressing security concerns are internal, and that the narrative of a hostile espionage mission was manufactured to inflame public sentiment and project paranoia as patriotism.
Makama said the episode is not evidence of vigilance, but “a case study in how disinformation is weaponised.”
He said, “Inflamed rhetoric may earn applause online, but it corrodes trust, poisons regional relations, and cheapens the very idea of sovereignty it claims to defend.
“Defending airspace is legitimate. Inventing enemies is not. Patriotism is not sustained by lies.”
He concluded by urging citizens to separate verified facts from viral fiction.
Makama said, “Nigeria did not infiltrate Burkina Faso. No clandestine operation was exposed. No French hand was ‘caught in the skies.’ What we are witnessing is a deliberate attempt to rewrite reality, and it deserves to be rejected with the contempt it has earned.”