The detention of eleven Nigerian military personnel and a seized Nigerian Air Force (NAF) C-130 Hercules transport aircraft in Burkina Faso is set to enter its second week.
The incident, which occurred following an alleged ‘unauthorised’ emergency landing on December 8, has left the Nigerian soldiers spending one week in Burkina Faso detention, amid conflicting narratives.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has also confirmed that the detained Nigerian soldiers and seized C-130 aircraft are yet to be released by the Burkinabe government.
Recall that the C-130 aircraft was seized on Monday, shortly after the crew made what it described as a precautionary landing in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
The Nigerian Air Force, NAF, had said the aircraft on its way to Portugal for maintenance made a precautionary landing due to technical faults.
However, the government of Burkina Faso and its counterpart in the Confederation of Sahel States, AES, accused the crew of entering its airspace without clearance, explaining why the Hercules plane was forced to land.
Giving updates on the fate of the 11 Nigerian soldiers and seized C-130 aircraft, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the federal government was actively engaging with the authorities of the country involved to resolve the matter diplomatically.
“The Embassy of Nigeria in Ouagadougou is engaging with the host authorities to secure their release,” said the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa.
He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had taken over the discussions to ensure the safe release of both the aircraft and the Nigerian military personnel.
However, a former federal lawmaker from Ekiti State and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Ayodele Arise, while reacting to the development, called on President Bola Tinubu to consider military action against Burkina Faso to secure the release of the soldiers.
Arise made this known during an interview with the Arise TV programme.
The former lawmaker said that the Nigerian government should not only employ diplomatic solutions to the problem.
According to him, 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.
