Image showing Nigerian soldiers at a military base. Photo Source: AFP.
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Claim: An X user claimed Ghana led diplomatic efforts to release Nigerian military officers detained in Burkina Faso.
Verdict: Misleading! Findings by DUBAWA showed that Nigerian military officers flew to Ghana only because they were not permitted to fly over Malian airspace. No evidence from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ghana suggested that the country secured the release of the officers.
Full Text
Recently, authorities in Burkina Faso detained Nigerian military officers after their aircraft made an emergency landing due to technical difficulties in the Bobo-Dioulasso area of the Sahelian country.
Nearly two weeks after their arrest, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered a diplomatic intervention led by Yusuf Tuggar, the nation’s foreign affairs minister, to meet Ibrahim Traoré, the military ruler of the country. The high-level delegation successfully secured the soldiers’ release, according to an official statement and credible media reports.
Amid this saga, an X user @Aristotletv posted a video purportedly showing the now-free military personnel and credited Ghana for their release.
“Ghana has secured the release of the eleven (11) Nigerian air force crew who mistakenly landed in Burkina Faso two weeks ago and were detained there. Lt Col Rtd Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, Ghana’s special envoy to the Alliance of Sahelian States, did a fantastic job in securing the release. The change we voted for,” he captioned the post.
As of Dec. 20, 2025, when DUBAWA checked the claim, the post had accumulated over 2,000 likes, 155 comments, and had been reshared by 403 users.
A review of the comment section under the post revealed a range of conflicting reactions to the assertion. While some believed the post, others doubted its veracity.
Commenting, @Samgolda said, “Let’s stop this propaganda. Ghana has nothing to do with this.”
Another user, @Enimolaola, noted: “Keep fooling yourself. What an interesting, foolish lie.”
Meanwhile, an X user, @ZKelvin, commented: “Ghana [is] always looking out for her baby brother Nigeria.”
@YPGhana wrote: “Effective diplomacy in action. This outcome reinforces Ghana’s growing credibility in regional security and foreign relations.”
Following the conflicting reactions, DUBAWA decided to conduct this verification to ascertain the accuracy of the claim.
Verification
To verify the claim, DUBAWA searched for the purported video on Google Lens. The results showed Tuggar and the 11 military crew members of the Nigerian Air Force posing for a photograph following their release.
Next, we scoured Mr Tuggar’s official X handle and found a statement saying that the military men flew to Ghana only to plan their trip back to Portugal after their release.
The aircraft was first flown into Ghana, as it was not granted permission to fly over Malian airspace. They were warmly welcomed by the president of Ghana, John Mahama, who was represented by Larry Gbvelo, as well as other top government officials.
Credible news outlets such as Premium Times and The Punch covered this development.
Finally, we visited the official Facebook page and website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ghana and found no evidence to corroborate the user’s claim.
Conclusion
Contrary to the claim, findings by DUBAWA showed that Ghana was not involved in the release of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) crew members. The assertion is misleading.
