A former Ekiti lawmaker and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC), Senator Ayodele Arise, has called on President Bola Tinubu to consider military action against Burkina Faso to secure the release of Nigerian soldiers currently who are being held.

Speaking on Saturday as a guest on an Arise TV programme, Arise insisted that despite the Nigerian Armed Forces being heavily engaged on the home front amid persistent insurgency and banditry, a military option against Burkina Faso should not be ruled out.

He 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 spoke on the recent military intervention in the Republic of Benin aimed at quelling a coup attempt arguing that President Tinubu did not act hastily neither did he breach the Constitution by taking action before formally notifying the National Assembly.