Daud Olatunji
There was no immediate sign of survivors on Monday night after a Nigerian Air Force aircraft carrying 32 people crashed into a swamp in the Igbokoda area of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, disclosed that rescue teams had so far recovered only portions of the aircraft, including wings, identity cards and military uniforms, while the main body of the aircraft remained buried deep in the swamp.
Aiyedatiwa, who spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said the aircraft had 25 passengers and seven crew members and was reportedly on a routine surveillance mission from Benin to Lagos when it lost radio communication at about 9:15am.
According to him, the state government received information about the incident around 10:30am after the chairman of Ilaje Local Government alerted authorities that residents had heard a sound resembling an air tremor before the aircraft plunged into the swamp.
The governor said naval personnel, local emergency officials, Amotekun operatives and residents immediately mobilised boats to the crash site but had yet to locate anyone alive.
“They saw the wreckage from the wings, some ID cards and uniforms indicating it was a military aircraft. The main body went deep into the swamp area. They haven’t been able to search the aircraft itself yet,” Aiyedatiwa said.
He explained that the difficult swamp terrain had hampered access to the main wreckage, adding that the crash site had been cordoned off to allow professional investigators and rescue personnel to operate.
The governor said hospitals in Igbokoda and Okitipupa had also been placed on standby, with ambulances recently procured for the state’s 18 local government areas deployed as part of the emergency response.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has declared three days of national mourning for the Nigerian Air Force personnel involved in the crash.
The President also directed that national flags be flown at half-mast across the country in honour of the officers.
Tinubu described the incident as a painful moment for the Armed Forces and the nation, noting that military personnel routinely risk their lives in the service of the country.
The President also ordered the Nigerian Air Force to immediately commence a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash.
He said the investigation should help prevent a recurrence of the tragedy.
The Presidency said the aircraft was an ATR-42 jet operating a routine mission from Benin to Lagos when the accident occurred near a naval base in Igbokoda.
The Nigerian Air Force is expected to release the names of the personnel involved after their families have been formally contacted.
Aiyedatiwa said the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau would investigate the crash and would need to recover the aircraft’s black box to establish what happened before the aircraft went down.
The incident came amid heightened security operations in Ondo State, particularly in the state’s vast forest corridors.
The governor also disclosed that security forces had recently eliminated a suspected senior ISWAP coordinator, Abdussamad Ohida, during a covert operation in the Ondo forest.
According to him, the operation was conducted about five days before the crash following months of intelligence gathering and surveillance.
He said the operation involved the Department of State Services, Nigerian Army, Amotekun and British intelligence support.
Aiyedatiwa said the operation was conducted without casualties on the side of the security forces.
He explained that intelligence obtained following the arrest of a former superior of the suspected ISWAP coordinator in 2023, as well as information from the tracking of another eliminated leader, helped security agencies to locate the group.
The governor said the terrorists were heavily armed, possessing weapons beyond the commonly used AK-47 rifles, including general-purpose machine guns.
He said the security forces had to retreat after the terrorists retaliated during an initial assault before returning with better intelligence, mapping and heavier preparation.
Aiyedatiwa added that British intelligence support included precision targeting equipment, while Amotekun operatives provided crucial knowledge of the difficult forest terrain.
He said many Amotekun operatives were recruited from among local hunters familiar with the forests.
The governor expressed concern that Ondo’s extensive forests, which share boundaries with Kogi, Edo, Ekiti and Oyo states, had become a corridor for criminals fleeing military operations in neighbouring areas.
According to him, criminal activities that initially manifested as farmer-herder clashes had increasingly evolved into terrorism.
He linked the group to the December 31, 2025 attack on the Ipele Police Station and the 2022 Owo massacre, although those allegations will require confirmation by the relevant security authorities.
Asked whether the group could attempt to disrupt the 2027 general elections, Aiyedatiwa said its broader objective was to cause death, destruction and instability.
The immediate focus, however, remains the recovery operation at Igbokoda, with authorities yet to confirm the fate of all 32 persons believed to have been aboard the aircraft.
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