The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, said that the 11 military personnel detained after an emergency landing in Burkina Faso are still in custody.
Mr Tuggar disclosed this on Thursday while speaking to journalists at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.
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Asked about the status of the soldiers in a joint press briefing, Mr Tuggar responded that the soldiers are still being held in the West African country, but talks to resolve the matter are ongoing.
“We are discussing how we can resolve this delicate matter as quickly as possible, and we’re talking. So it’s something that is being handled diplomatically,” he said.
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Mr Tuggar also noted that the Air Force aircraft landing in Burkina Faso was unrelated to Nigeria’s intervention in the recent military coup in Benin.
The 11 military officials on board the C-130 aircraft, which made an emergency landing in Bobo Dioulasso in the south-west of the country, had been arrested and detained amid suspicion that the officials had been involved in the Benin coup rescue.
The Burkina Faso Minister of Territorial Administration, Emile Zerbo, claimed that the aircraft violated national procedures by entering Burkina Faso without authorisation.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Alliance of Sahel States accused Nigeria of violating Burkina Faso’s airspace, adding that the emergency landing in Bobo Dioulasso, a city in the south-west of the country, constituted an infringement of national sovereignty.
However, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has denied this, clarifying that the aircraft landed in Burkina Faso for safety reasons and “in accordance with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols.”
The air force said the NAF C-130 crew “observed a technical concern which necessitated a precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, the nearest airfield.”
Burkina Faso’s accusation comes a day after the army intervened in the Republic of Benin to foil the recent coup attempt.
Nigeria’s intervention came at the request of Benin’s President Patrice Talon, who sought immediate military backing to stop the forceful takeover of power in his country. The AES is made up of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, three West African nations where the military has successfully taken power in recent years. The countries exited the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after the regional bloc condemned the coups and imposed sanctions on the three countries.
In its first official response to the aircraft’s landing, the Nigerian Air Force stated that the aircraft had landed in Burkina Faso for safety reasons and “in accordance with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols.”
READ ALSO: AES accuses Nigeria of violating airspace over military aircraft emergency landing in Burkina Faso
The air force said the NAF C-130 crew “observed a technical concern which necessitated a precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, the nearest airfield.”
Burkina Faso’s accusation came a day after the Nigerian military intervened in the Republic of Benin to foil Sunday’s coup there.
Nigeria’s intervention came at the request of Benin’s President Patrice Talon, who sought immediate military backing to stop the forceful takeover of power in his country.
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