Countering AES propaganda on Nigerian military aircraft in Burkina Faso

BY ZAGAZOLA MAKAMA

What the AES-aligned propaganda mills are pushing about a “Nigerian C-130 espionage mission intercepted by heroic Burkinabè forces with France pulling the strings” is not intelligence analysis; it is bad fiction, poorly written and embarrassingly detached from reality.

Let’s call this what it is: a reckless fabrication dressed up as “breaking news.”

The viral narrative claiming that a C-130 aircraft was forced down,” and exposed as part of a clandestine SIGINT operation against Burkina Faso is false from start to finish. Not partially inaccurate. Not debatable. Flatly false.

Here are the facts the propaganda merchants refuse to confront. The Nigerian military aircraft in question was on a duly authorised ferry flight to Portugal for scheduled depot maintenance, a routine, mandatory lifecycle requirement for military transport aircraft. This was not an operational mission, not intelligence collection, not “hybrid warfare,” and certainly not a covert intrusion.

Several military sources confirmed that the flight carried valid documentation, an approved flight plan, and standard diversion clearance in line with international aviation procedures. The landing at Bobo-Dioulasso was a precautionary safety landing, initiated strictly under established aviation protocols. 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. After their landing, they were received by the foreign affairs ministry, which accommodated them in a hotel and ensured they were treated properly. It was only the following day, as they were preparing to take their leave, when the president insisted that he was not briefed by Nigerian Officials.

Let’s dismantle the most absurd allegation that Nigeria somehow packed a C-130—a large, conspicuous transport aircraft, with “passive electronic surveillance systems,” flew it openly with paperwork and transponders active, and expected to secretly map Burkinabè military infrastructure. 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. They were not intelligence operatives. The aircraft was not configured for surveillance. Period.

Dragging France into this tale is 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. If France is the explanation for everything, then nothing is actually being explained.

Equally dishonest is the claim that the Nigerian Air Force announced the crew had been released. A check by Zagazola revealed that “No such statement was made. That fiction exists only in the echo chambers of online agitators who confuse repetition with verification. What is actually happening is mundane, and that is precisely why disinformation thrives.

Nigeria does not need to spy on Burkina Faso’s military by flying a lumbering transport aircraft into its airspace and certainly not through such a crude, self-sabotaging method. Relevant Nigerian ministries and agencies are quietly and responsibly managing the situation through diplomatic channels, in accordance with international norms and bilateral relations. This is how serious states behave. Not with hashtags, not with fantasies, and not with manufactured heroics.

Nigeria’s security challenges are well known, overwhelmingly internal, and demand focus, not imaginary wars against neighbours. The idea that Abuja would risk diplomatic rupture, regional instability, and international embarrassment to “scan Bobo-Dioulasso” is strategic nonsense.

This entire narrative of espionage, sabotage, interception, and hostile intent is a manufactured outrage, designed to inflame public sentiment, posture for domestic consumption, and project paranoia as patriotism.

This episode is not proof of vigilance; it is a case study in how disinformation is weaponised. 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.

In an era of information warfare, citizens must learn to separate verified facts from viral fiction. 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.

Facts matter. Credibility matters. And propaganda, no matter how loudly shouted, remains propaganda.