Nigerian Air Force Crash Kills 25

Nigeria’s Air Force revised the death toll from a military plane crash near Igbokoda in Ondo State, reporting on Tuesday that 25 people were aboard and that none survived. The aircraft, an ATR-42 twin-engine turboprop identified as Flight NAF 931, crashed the previous day in a swampy area near a naval base. The Air Force said the flight had five crew members and 20 passengers, correcting earlier accounts that said 32 people were on board. President Bola Tinubu had initially announced that all 32 people—25 passengers and seven crew—were killed. The Air Force released the victims’ names; the list included six people without military rank prefixes. Officials said civilians, including members of families, were travelling on the plane. Air Force spokesman Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame said the aircraft was on a routine mission from Benin City to Lagos when the accident happened. Defence Headquarters spokesman Major General Samaila Uba separately confirmed that family members were aboard. Tinubu and military chiefs ordered an investigation into the crash. Tinubu described the incident as a painful moment for the armed forces and the country, and declared three days of public mourning. A video circulating on social media showed people gathered by a river as rescuers searched the area by boat. The article places the crash among Nigeria’s serious military aviation accidents in recent years. In 2021, the country’s top-ranking army commander, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 other officers died when their plane crashed in bad weather while attempting to land in Kaduna State. Earlier incidents included a 2015 military plane crash into a house in northern Nigeria that killed seven people, and a helicopter crash into a Lagos lagoon that killed six, including its American pilot.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has declared three days of national mourning after a Nigerian Air Force aircraft crashed in a swamp near Igbokoda, in southern Ondo State, killing 25 people. The Air Force clarified the death toll on Tuesday after Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo had initially said 32 people died. The confirmed victims comprised five crew members and 20 passengers; 19 of those aboard were military personnel. The aircraft was on a routine flight from Benin City to Lagos when it went down on Monday morning near a naval base. Officials said it was submerged when they reached the site, where a local resident reported finding clothes and shoes. Search and rescue efforts were under way, and the wreckage was being recovered from the water. Tinubu offered condolences, directed that national flags be flown at half-mast, and ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash, with the aim of preventing similar incidents. He described the event as a painful moment for the armed forces and the nation, and praised the sacrifice of Air Force personnel. Keyamo said the aircraft, identified by tail number NGR 931, had disappeared while en route from Benin to Lagos and that attempts to contact it by radio had failed. The plane was described as an ATR-42, a type that can carry between 30 and 50 passengers. The crash is the deadliest involving a Nigerian military aircraft since 1992. The report places it in the context of previous military aviation disasters: in May 2021, army chief Lt-Gen Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 other officers died in a crash in Kaduna State amid bad weather; that February, seven people were killed when a military aircraft crashed short of a runway in Abuja. The Nigerian Air Force is also involved in operations against armed groups and insecurity across the country.

Nigerian authorities have revised the death toll from a military aircraft crash in southern Nigeria to 25, down from an initial report of 32. The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said all 25 people aboard died and that there were no survivors. Those on board included five crew members and 20 passengers. President Bola Tinubu expressed his deepest condolences to the victims’ loved ones. The aircraft, identified by the NAF as an ATR-42, was on a routine mission to Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub. Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo said it crashed in the Igbokoda area of Ondo state. The plane disappeared from radar at about 9 a.m. local time (7 a.m. GMT) and was later found to have crashed roughly halfway along its journey from Edo state to Lagos. The wreckage was located near a naval base, and the Air Force said an immediate search-and-rescue operation had been launched. A video circulating on social media showed people gathered near a river while rescuers searched the area by boat. Local residents told the Associated Press what they had witnessed. One said the plane cleared some trees and that people found body parts, clothes and shoes. The article notes that its initial version, published on Monday, October 5, reported a death toll of 32 based on information from Nigerian officials. The story was amended on Tuesday after authorities revised the figure to 25.