Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has raised the alarm that Nigerian soldiers on board an aircraft that made a forced landing in Burkina Faso are still being held by the authorities in that country.
Tuggar disclosed this during a joint press briefing with his Beninese counterpart, Olushegun Bakari, on Thursday at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission in Abuja.
Recall that on Monday, the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) accused a Nigerian AirForce C130 aircraft carrying 11 Nigerian soldiers of violating Burkinabe airspace.
AES is a breakaway West African regional union made up of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic.
Mali junta leader, Assimi Goita, described the Nugerian aircraft’s landing as an unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law.
AES said it authorised its member-states to neutralise any aircraft violating its airspace.
The development occurred shortly after Nigerian troops carried out air strikes in Benin to help foil a coup.
Speaking on the matter, the Nigerian Air Force, said the C-130 aircraft was on a ferry mission to Portugal.
