Nigeria plane crash claims 32 lives as a military aircraft goes down in the southwest of the country. President Bola Tinubu confirmed that all passengers and crew died in the accident and ordered three days of national mourning.
The Nigerian Air Force plane was flying a routine mission from Benin City to Lagos on Monday morning. Shortly after 9:00 am local time it crashed near Igbokoda in Ondo State. Officials said the aircraft was an ATR-42 twin-engine turboprop. Twenty-five passengers and seven crew members were on board. None survived.
Tinubu’s office released a statement expressing deep condolences to the families of those lost. “This is a painful moment for our armed forces and for the entire nation,” the president said. He directed that flags fly at half-staff across Nigeria and instructed the Air Force to begin a full investigation so that similar tragedies can be avoided in the future.
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo and the presidency both noted that the plane went down close to a naval base. Local residents reported hearing a loud noise that sounded like thunder. One woman who lives about a kilometre from the site said the sound startled her. A fisherman working in the nearby swamp was among the first to raise the alarm and alert the naval base and people in the town.
Search and rescue teams quickly reached the area. Video circulating on social media showed people gathered near a river while boats searched the water. Air Force spokesman Ehimen Ejodame confirmed that operations continued in coordination with emergency agencies. Police also verified the crash but gave no further details at the time.
Igbokoda lies in the oil-producing Ilaje region of southern Nigeria. The disaster ranks among the deadliest air accidents in the country in recent years. In 2021 a plane carrying the army’s top commander and ten other officers crashed in bad weather. Earlier military aviation accidents in 2015 also claimed lives in the north and in Lagos.
The Air Force has said it will release the names of the victims only after families have been notified. For now the nation is in mourning as investigators work to determine exactly what caused the Nigeria plane crash.
