Bunyoni was forced out of his post in September last year after President Evariste Ndayishimiye purged him from the political board when coup plans against him were discovered.
Last week, police and security searched three houses owned by Bunyoni, without finding him. The police then stated that he was probably hiding “in the wilderness”.
Exactly what Bunyoni is accused of is unclear, on Wednesday Home Affairs Minister Martin Niteretse said he did not know why the police wanted to arrest the former minister.
Bunyoni was considered part of a more hard-line phalanx within the military, which in reality rules the country. The human rights situation in Burundi was described by the UN in 2021 as “catastrophic”.