ع
President Bola Tinubu directed the Nigerian Air Force to launch a thorough investigation into Monday’s crash that claimed 32 lives while declaring three days of national mourning with flags to fly at half-mast nationwide as a mark of respect. The presidency issued the directives in a statement by Special Adviser on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga following briefings from the Chief of Air Staff. “This is a painful moment for our Armed Forces and for the entire nation,” Tinubu said according to the release carried by ThisDayLive. “Our Air Force personnel put their lives on the line every day to secure Nigeria. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
The ATR-42 aircraft with tail number NGR 931 lost contact with air traffic controllers at about 9:13 a.m. on October 5 while en route from Benin City to Lagos according to Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo who confirmed the disappearance in an update. The wreckage was later located near a naval base in the swampy Igbokoda area of Ondo State’s Ilaje Local Government Area where residents reported seeing smoke rising and personal items such as clothes and shoes scattered at the site. Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa mobilized emergency and health agencies to support search and rescue operations and stated that no survivors had been found up to that point a position reported by TheNigeriaLawyer. The aircraft was on a routine mission when the accident occurred according to the Nigerian Air Force.[[5]](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck1wvjer20qqo)
All 25 passengers and seven crew members aboard the military aircraft perished in the incident the Nigerian Air Force confirmed in a statement by Director of Public Relations and Information Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame who noted that search and rescue had been activated immediately in coordination with relevant agencies. The air force described the flight as a routine mission and said the identities of the deceased would be released only after families had been notified a detail repeated across statements carried by Channels Television and Punch newspaper. Preliminary information from the scene indicated the plane went down in a swamp opposite the naval base with no lives saved according to the governor’s assessment shared with local media.[[6]](https://punchng.com/tinubu-declares-three-day-mourning-for-naf-crash-victims/)
Tinubu extended condolences directly to Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke and all personnel of the Nigerian Air Force while commending the swift activation of rescue efforts by the service and support from Ondo State authorities in the presidency’s release. Keyamo had earlier informed the chief of air staff and pledged his ministry’s cooperation with the probe as the aircraft was a twin-engine turboprop model typically configured to carry between 30 and 50 passengers according to manufacturer specifications cited in reporting by AFP. The president emphasized that the investigation must establish factors behind the crash to prevent any recurrence a point reiterated in statements from multiple outlets including ThisDayLive.[[3]](https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/nigerias-tinubu-confirms-32-dead-180846560.html)
A Daily Trust compilation of military aviation incidents found that at least 37 people died in nine reported Nigerian Air Force plane accidents between 2015 and 2022 providing context for the scale of the latest tragedy that occurred on October 5 2026. The newspaper noted four accidents took place in 2021 alone including one near Kaduna that killed the then Chief of Army Staff and 10 others. A separate Punch timeline of air crashes in Nigeria listed multiple Nigerian Air Force losses dating back decades such as a 1992 C-130 incident that killed all 158 people on board and a 1997 Dornier crash in Borno State. These figures underscore the pattern of challenges facing military aviation in the country according to the publications’ respective reviews.[[7]](https://dailytrust.com/how-air-force-jets-crashed-claimed-37-lives-in-8-years/)
Because the aircraft is military property the Nigerian Air Force leads the investigation though the National Safety Investigation Bureau has indicated readiness to analyze flight recorders and cockpit voice data if requested according to AeroCorner citing Legit.ng. Eyewitnesses told local reporters that the plane appeared to circle several times as weather conditions deteriorated before the descent into the swamp an account carried by Tribune Online. Police in Ondo State confirmed they had begun their own parallel inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the crash as details continued to emerge a police spokesperson told Punch newspaper. No official cause has been determined as recovery operations at the remote site remained ongoing into October 6 with the full probe expected to draw on wreckage analysis air traffic logs and environmental data.
