Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, confirmed on Thursday that the Nigerian military personnel involved in the forced landing of a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft are still in Burkina Faso, contradicting earlier unconfirmed reports of their release.
Tuggar made the confirmation during a joint press briefing at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, where he was joined by his Beninese counterpart, Olushegun Bakari.
When directly asked by TheCable about the status of the soldiers, Tuggar replied: “Yes, they are.”
The Minister stated that diplomatic negotiations are actively underway with the Burkinabè junta leader, Ibrahim Traoré, to resolve the matter quickly.
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He provided a quoted statement on the diplomatic engagement:“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.
The incident began on Monday when the Confederation of Sahel States (AES), a regional union comprising the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic, accused the aircraft carrying 11 Nigerian soldiers of violating Burkinabè airspace.
Assimi Goita, the Mali junta leader, described the landing as an “unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law.”
The AES has previously declared that it “authorised its member states to neutralise any aircraft violating its airspace.”
This development occurred just as Nigerian troops were conducting air strikes in Benin to help foil a coup attempt.
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The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) maintained that the C-130 aircraft was on a routine “ferry mission to Portugal” for scheduled maintenance.
NAF Director of Public Relations, Ehimen Ejodame, explained that the crew observed a “technical concern” that necessitated a “precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso,” which was the nearest suitable airfield.
The NAF insisted the landing was “in accordance with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols.”
Addressing the link to the Benin coup intervention, Bakari clarified that the NAF aircraft saga in Burkina Faso “had nothing to do” with the support Nigeria provided to foil the coup attempt in Benin, a statement which Tuggar affirmed.
Tuggar reiterated the official Nigerian position on the incident, stating:“Absolutely, it was on its way to Portugal and it developed a technical problem and was forced to land,”Tuggar said. “And this is part of ICAO regulations, it’s under international law. When you’re flying and you have a problem, you land in the nearest airport, and it can happen to anybody. Tomorrow, it can be a Burkinabe plane flying, let’s say, to Kenya or somewhere, and then it’s forced to land in Kano or Maiduguri or anywhere else. It can be any other country.”
Tuggar concluded by expressing confidence in quickly resolving the diplomatic issue.
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