Why Nigeria, Cameroon seal air safety pact — Keyamo

Nigeria and Cameroon have signed a bilateral agreement aimed at strengthening aviation safety and improving emergency response coordination across their shared airspace.

The pact, titled the Bilateral Agreement on Technical Aeronautical Search and Rescue Operations, was formalised on Friday in Yaoundé after high-level talks between Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, and Cameroon’s Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest NgalNgallé Bibehe.

Announcing the development on Saturday via his official X account, Keyamo said the agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon would enhance airspace safety by enabling faster and more coordinated responses to aviation emergencies along their common borders.

According to him, the Nigerian delegation to Yaoundé included the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, and senior officials from the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development.

He noted that the composition of the team was intentional to ensure a unified and seamless implementation of the agreement from the outset.

The framework establishes technical cooperation mechanisms between both countries in the event of aircraft incidents occurring within or near their border regions, reinforcing regional collaboration in search and rescue operations.

The signing comes months after a Nigerian Air Force C-130 aircraft made an emergency landing in Burkina Faso following a mid-air technical fault.

The aircraft’s crew and passengers — 11 military personnel — were detained for nine days by Burkinabe authorities over allegations of airspace violation before their eventual release after diplomatic intervention by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, on the directive of President Bola Tinubu.