Nigerian soldiers recently freed by Burkina Faso arrive Ghana

The Nigerian soldiers detained in Burkina Faso have arrived in Ghana following their release by the Burkinabe government on Wednesday.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, disclosed this in a statement issued on X on Saturday.

Mr Tuggar confirmed that the “eleven personnel of the Nigerian Air Force arrived safely in Accra, Republic of Ghana, from Burkina Faso, aboard a Nigerian Air Force C-130 (913) aircraft.”

The soldiers were released about 10 days after a high-level delegation from Nigeria, led by Mr Tuggar, met with Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traoré and other members of his administration.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Burkina Faso and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) had accused Nigeria of violating Burkina Faso’s airspace following an emergency landing of the air force aircraft.

The AES is made up of three West African countries, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, led by putschists. The three countries withdrew from the West African bloc, ECOWAS, and have maintained an adversarial relationship with the bloc despite the efforts of ECOWAS.

In its response to the AES’s claim, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) denied the allegation. It said that the aircraft was travelling to Portugal but 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.”

In his Saturday post on X, Mr Tuggar said the soldiers arrived in Ghana on Friday and were set to leave for Portugal, their original destination, on Saturday.

Upon arrival in Accra, the officers were received by a representative of the President of the Republic of Ghana, Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, Ghana’s Special Envoy to the AES, alongside officials of the Nigerian High Commission in Accra and senior officers of the Ghana Air Force, Mr Tuggar said.

“The personnel were accorded a warm reception and hosted by their Ghanaian counterparts.”