ACCRA, Dec. 20 — Ghana has received a Nigerian military aircraft and 11 personnel released by the authorities of Burkina Faso, the Ghanaian presidency said in a statement early Saturday.
Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, special envoy of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama to the Alliance of Sahel States, who received the aircraft and the personnel, commended the governments of Nigeria and Burkina Faso for resolving the impasse amicably through diplomatic means.
“This incident is an indication that we are brothers and sisters in the West African subregion and can resolve our differences in a neighborly manner,” Gbevlo-Lartey said.
According to the statement, the Nigerian personnel are expected to rest in Ghana while technical checks are conducted on the aircraft before it is cleared to continue its flight to Portugal for routine maintenance.
On Dec. 8, Burkina Faso authorities detained a Nigerian military aircraft, along with its two-man crew and nine other military personnel, after it landed in Bobo-Dioulasso, a city in southwestern Burkina Faso.
Nigeria has maintained that the C-130 military transport aircraft made an emergency landing as a precaution after a technical issue was detected shortly after takeoff.
Burkina Faso, however, insisted that the aircraft had violated its airspace and sovereignty. After days of diplomatic engagement with Burkinabe authorities, Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar visited Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, to apologize for the incident and facilitate the release of the detained personnel. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
