The Nigerian Air Force on Tuesday said the crew of a military plane that made an emergency landing in Burkina Faso was “safe”, in an incident that Burkinabe authorities denounced as an “unfriendly act”.

On Monday, the crew of a Nigerian Air Force C-130 “observed a technical concern which necessitated a precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, the nearest airfield, in accordance with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols,” air force spokesman Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame said in a statement.He said the “crew is safe and have received cordial treatment from the host authorities”.

The tone of the Nigerian statement was vastly different from the stern message put out by authorities of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), composed of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, all led by military juntas.

The AES had said in a joint statement Monday that the aircraft, carrying 11 military personnel, did not have permission to fly over Burkina Faso.

The statement called the landing an “unfriendly act” and said the countries’ respective air forces had been put on maximum alert and authorised to “neutralise any aircraft” found to violate the confederation’s airspace.

The AES countries have all split from West African regional bloc ECOWAS, headquartered in Nigeria, and maintain uneasy relations with their neighbours in the region.

The three states have also distanced themselves from the West, notably from former colonial ruler France, while drawing closer to Russia. Ejodame said that the flight had been headed to Portugal.

The relationship between Nigeria, the de facto leader of the regional bloc, and the AES countries had soured in recent years, particularly when Nigeria threatened to intervene in Niger’s 2023 coup, which ousted Mohammed Bazoum, an action the AES countries viewed as a threat to their rule.

The tense relations between the two sides have been exacerbated by global geopolitical tensions between Western countries and Russia, as the West struggles to maintain its former sphere of influence and Russia makes an aggressive inroad into the region.

Analysts say the recent military intervention by Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries in thwarting a short-lived coup would alarm the AES countries.

Since 2020, the region has been whacked by a spate of coups as militaries capitalise on anti-West sentiment, underperforming economies, political instability and a deteriorating security crisis that has spread across the region. At least nine coups or attempted coups have been recorded, propelling the region to claim the world’s coup capital.