Detained NAF crew:  Senator Arise urges Tinubu to consider military option against Burkina Faso

A former senator representing Ekiti North and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Ayodele Arise, has called on President Bola Tinubu to explore the possibility of military action against Burkina Faso to secure the release Nigerian Air Force (NAF) crew  detained in the country.

Arise made the appeal on Saturday during an appearance on an Arise TV programme monitored by our correspondent.

While conceding that the Nigerian Armed Forces are currently stretched by ongoing insurgency and banditry at home, the former lawmaker maintained that the military option should not be completely ruled out in dealing with the situation in Burkina Faso.

He cited Israel’s 1976 Entebbe Raid in Uganda as an example of how decisive action could compel a change of stance 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.”

Arise, who previously represented Ekiti North in the Senate, also backed Nigeria’s recent military intervention in the Republic of Benin to stop a coup attempt.

He rejected claims that President Tinubu acted hastily or violated constitutional provisions by taking action before formally informing the National Assembly.

The senator’s remarks came about 24 hours after the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, confirmed that 11 Nigerian military personnel who made an emergency landing in Burkina Faso remain in detention.

Tuggar disclosed this while speaking with 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 link to Nigeria’s intervention in the recent military coup in Benin Republic.

The 11 officers were aboard a C-130 aircraft that made an emergency landing in Bobo Dioulasso, in south-western Burkina Faso, after which they were arrested amid suspicion that they were part of a rescue operation connected to the Benin coup.

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