Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has confirmed that the 11 Nigerian soldiers aboard a military aircraft that made a forced landing in Burkina Faso are still in the West African country, as diplomatic efforts intensify to resolve the standoff.
Tuggar made the disclosure on Thursday at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in Abuja during a joint press briefing with his Beninese counterpart, Olushegun Bakari. He was responding to a question from TheCable on the whereabouts of the detained soldiers.
On Monday, the Confederation of Sahel States (AES)—the breakaway alliance comprising Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—accused the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) C-130 aircraft of violating Burkinabe airspace. Mali’s junta leader, Assimi Goita, went further, describing the aircraft’s unscheduled landing as “an unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law.”
The AES subsequently announced that it had authorised its member states to neutralise any aircraft deemed to be violating their airspace.
The diplomatic flare-up unfolded just as Nigerian forces executed air strikes in Benin Republic to help foil a coup attempt—an operation that analysts say may have heightened regional sensitivities.
NAF, however, maintained that the aircraft was on a routine ferry mission to Portugal when the crew detected a technical fault, prompting a precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, the closest available airfield.
According to Ehimen Ejodame, NAF Director of Public Relations, the crew’s actions were in line with “standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols.”
Despite reports that the Burkinabe authorities briefly detained—and later released—the Nigerian personnel, Tuggar confirmed that the soldiers remain in Burkina Faso, and negotiations are ongoing at the highest levels.
“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,” Tuggar said.
Pressed further on whether the soldiers were still in custody, he replied: “Yes, they are.”
Benin’s Foreign Minister, Bakari, used the briefing to dismiss speculation that the aircraft incident was connected to Nigeria’s role in thwarting the coup attempt in Cotonou. Tuggar backed him up, stressing that the aircraft emergency had no political undertone.
“Absolutely, it was on its way to Portugal and it developed a technical problem and was forced to land,” the minister explained.
He emphasised that precautionary landings are a normal feature of international aviation, and could happen to any country.
“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,” he said.
Diplomatic channels remain active as Nigeria pushes for a swift and peaceful resolution to the escalating dispute.
