By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Nigerian military aircraft C-130 carrying 11 soldiers that made emergency landing in Burkina Faso over technical challenge, have remained detained by the authorities in Ouagadougou seven days after.
The Nigerian government had sounded confident that negotiation with the government of Burkina Faso will lead to a quick release of the soldiers but as of Sunday, December 14, there was no information regarding the release.
Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, told our correspondent on Sunday that the aircraft and soldiers were still being detained as negotiation continued. There was no concrete statement as to what steps the Nigerian government would take if the detention of the aircraft and soldiers continued indefinitely.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, during the 95th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Council of Ministers Meeting in Abuja on Thursday, told journalists that talks to resolve the matter were 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.
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, were arrested and detained for questioning amid suspicion that the officials had been involved in the recent Benin Republic coup.
Ambassador Tuggar, however, clarified that the Air Force aircraft landing in Burkina Faso was not in connection with Nigeria’s intervention in the recent military coup in Benin as the aircraft was on its way to Portugal.
Effort was being made through some diplomatic channels even as the Nigerian government has rejected the allegation of airspace violation with the Nigerian Air Force saying the aircraft involved made an emergency landing due to a technical fault and had complied fully with airspace procedures.
But sources have said that if not properly handled things could degenerate as both countries were not in the best of times especially as Burkina Faso is a member of the Confederation of Sahelian States currently having frosty relations with Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries and has threatened to take more strident action in case of further violation of its airspace.
Leadership had reported on Tuesday that the effort to assist Benin to quell the coup appeared to have triggered a web of complicated and dangerous regional power game unfolding between Nigeria and the Sahel states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, who recently exited ECOWAS following disagreements over coups in the three countries.
Credit: Leadership