Nigerian military aircraft crashes, killing 32

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Air Force ATR-42 aircraft crashes during routine flight from Benin City to Lagos

A Nigerian military aircraft crashed in southwestern Ondo state on Monday, killing all 32 people on board in one of the country’s deadliest air disasters in recent years.

The ATR-42 aircraft went down near the coastal town of Igbokoda while travelling from Benin City to Lagos, prompting an immediate search and rescue operation.

The Nigerian Air Force aircraft was on a routine mission from Benin City in southern Nigeria to Lagos, the country’s economic hub, when air traffic controllers lost contact with it at 0813 GMT on Monday.

Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo said the aircraft went down shortly after 9am local time, around halfway through its journey from Edo state to Lagos.

The presidency and aviation authorities said the aircraft crashed near a naval base in the Igbokoda area of Ilaje, an oil-producing region of Ondo state.

The Nigerian Air Force identified the aircraft as an ATR-42, a twin-engine turboprop aircraft that its manufacturers say can carry between 30 and 50 passengers.

Search and rescue teams were deployed after the aircraft disappeared from radar. The wreckage was later located near Igbokoda, with rescuers searching the area by boat.

A video circulating on social media showed a small crowd gathered near a river while emergency teams searched the crash site.

Local residents also described hearing the aircraft go down. Dayo Akinte, a 39-year-old firewood hawker who lives about a kilometre from the crash site, told AFP that she heard a sound resembling “thunder” around the time the aircraft crashed.

Akinte said three aircraft had also been flying over the area following the accident. She added that a person who had gone fishing in the swamp alerted the nearby naval base and residents of the town.

One local resident told the Associated Press that the aircraft cleared some trees before the crash and that people at the scene found body parts, clothes and shoes.

Air Force spokesman Ehimen Ejodame said search and rescue operations were launched in coordination with relevant authorities and emergency response agencies. Police also confirmed the accident but initially provided no further details.

President Bola Tinubu confirmed that there were no survivors and expressed profound sadness over the loss of the 25 passengers and seven crew members.

“The Chief of Air Staff has briefed me,” Tinubu said, adding that he had directed the Nigerian Air Force to immediately begin a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash.

He said the investigation was intended to determine what caused the accident and help prevent similar incidents in the future.

“This is a painful moment for our armed forces and for the entire nation,” the president said while extending his deepest condolences to the victims’ families.

Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, later announced that the president had declared three days of national mourning for the Air Force personnel killed in the crash.

Flags will be flown at half-staff across Nigeria as a mark of respect for the officers who died.

The presidency said the Nigerian Air Force would release the identities of the victims after their families had been notified.

The crash is being described as one of the worst air disasters in Nigeria in recent years and among the country’s most serious military aviation accidents.

Nigeria has experienced several deadly military aviation accidents in recent years.

In May 2021, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, Nigeria’s top-ranking army commander at the time, and 10 other officers were killed when their aircraft crashed in bad weather while attempting to land at an airport in Kaduna state.

In August 2015, seven people were killed when a military aircraft crashed into a house in northern Nigeria, with everyone aboard the aircraft dying in the accident.

Earlier that same month, a helicopter crashed into a lagoon in Lagos, killing six people, including its American pilot.

The latest crash has renewed attention on military aviation safety as authorities begin an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the ATR-42 disaster.

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