Detained soldiers: Senator Arise urges military action against Burkina Faso

Senator Ayodele Arise. Credit: Leadership

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A former Ekiti lawmaker and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Ayodele Arise, has urged President Bola Tinubu to consider the option of military action against Burkina Faso to secure the release of Nigerian soldiers currently being held in the West African country.

Arise made the call on Saturday while speaking as a guest on an Arise TV programme, which was monitored by our correspondent.

While acknowledging that the Nigerian Armed Forces are heavily engaged on the home front amid persistent insurgency and banditry, the senator insisted that a military option against Burkina Faso should not be ruled out.

Drawing from historical precedent, Arise recalled Israel’s 1976 Entebbe Raid in Uganda, arguing that decisive action could force a rethink by the Burkinabe authorities.

He said, “I think we should move and do something. As a matter of fact, once they are aware that we want to do that, I am sure that the man who is President there will have a rethink because they are our neighbours.

“Yes, we should be friendly with our neighbours, but at the same time we should let them know that they can’t be messing with our country.”

The former lawmaker, who represented Ekiti North in the Senate, also expressed support for the recent military intervention in the Republic of Benin aimed at quelling a coup attempt.

He dismissed suggestions that President Tinubu acted hastily or breached the Constitution by taking action before formally notifying the National Assembly.

Arise’s concerns came barely 24 hours after the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, confirmed that the 11 Nigerian military personnel detained following an emergency landing in Burkina Faso remain in custody.

Tuggar made the disclosure while speaking to journalists at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.

“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 minister also clarified that the Nigerian Air Force aircraft involved had no connection with Nigeria’s intervention in the recent military coup in Benin Republic.

The 11 military officers were aboard a C-130 aircraft that made an emergency landing in Bobo Dioulasso, in south-western Burkina Faso, and were subsequently arrested amid suspicion that they were involved in a rescue mission linked to the Benin coup.

However, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Emile Zerbo, claimed that the aircraft violated national procedures by entering the country’s airspace without authorisation.

Beyond regional security, Arise also weighed in on domestic legislative matters, particularly the Senate’s adoption of the ‘take-a-bow-and-go’ approach in screening ambassadorial nominees.

While he did not fault the procedure adopted by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, he argued that more rigorous engagement during screenings would help lawmakers better assess the competence of nominees for sensitive diplomatic assignments.

He said, “There are two ways to look at that. It is either the President and the security agencies have done a good job of due diligence of the candidates, and the Senators have read their profiles, resumes, achievements and contributions to national development.

“It is a learning process because the fact that you are a Senator doesn’t mean that you know everything. So, the opportunity for engagement, information for people to know their professions and educating the Senators at large has been lost.”

“But many of us will prefer that the Senate ask questions. Let the nominees justify the nomination from Mr President because he himself can’t know every one of them. He is going to rely on the security report and the reference from those who work around him.”

The PUNCH journalist, Adebayo, has over 20 years of experience covering politics, health, metro, entertainment and properties

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