A former Ekiti lawmaker and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Senator Ayodele Arise, has urged President 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.
Brand News Day Nigeria reports that Senator Arise made the call on Saturday, 13 December, 2025, while speaking as a guest on an Arise TV programme.
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.
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.
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