Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, on Wednesday met Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso junta leader, in Ouagadougou, the country’s capital city.
Tuggar, who led a Nigerian delegation to the country, said in a press conference that the mission was initiated by President Bola Tinubu.
The meeting comes nearly two weeks after 11 Nigerian soldiers, aboard an aircraft that made a forced landing in Burkina Faso have remained in the country.
According to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), the C-130 aircraft was on a ferry mission to Portugal.
Ehimen Ejodame, director of public relations at NAF, said the crew observed a technical concern which necessitated a precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, a city in Burkina Faso, with the nearest airfield.
Ejodame said the landing was in accordance with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols.
But Assimi Goita, the Mali junta leader, described the landing as an “unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law”.
Goita spoke on behalf of the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) in a statement.
The AES said it authorised its member states to neutralise any aircraft violating its airspace.
Last Thursday, Tuggar said talks were ongoing with Traoré to resolve the matter.
“We are discussing how we can resolve this delicate matter as quickly as possible, and we’re talking,” he told TheCable.
“So it’s something that is being handled diplomatically,” he said.
At the time, the minister noted that the soldiers were still in Burkina Faso and expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved quickly.
There were reports that Burkinabe authorities released the soldiers following Tuggar’s meeting with Traoré.
Nigeria’s ministry of foreign affairs did not immediately confirm the reports when contacted by TheCable.
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