LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s Air Force on Tuesday revised the death toll from Monday’s crash of a military transport plane in southern Ondo State to 25, down from 32 announced a day earlier, as President Bola Tinubu declared three days of national mourning, BBC News and DW reported.
“NAF 931 had 25 persons on board, comprising five crew members and 20 passengers,” the Nigerian Air Force said, confirming there were no survivors. The Air Force released the names of the dead, showing that 19 of those aboard were military personnel. It is the deadliest crash involving a Nigerian military aircraft since 1992, according to the BBC.
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo said the ATR-42, on a routine flight from Benin City to Lagos, disappeared from radar at about 9:13 a.m. local time and that “efforts to raise the aircraft on radio proved abortive.” The wreckage was found submerged in a swamp near a naval base in Igbokoda, roughly halfway along the route. Residents told the BBC and AP that clothes, shoes and body parts were recovered near the site.
Tinubu ordered national flags flown at half-mast and directed the Air Force to begin a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash. “This is a painful moment for our Armed Forces and for the entire nation,” he said. “Our Air Force personnel put their lives on the line every day to secure Nigeria. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
The Air Force plays a central role in Nigeria’s campaigns against armed groups and insecurity. In May 2021, army chief Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 other officers were killed in a military plane crash in Kaduna State, and seven people died that February when a military aircraft crashed short of the runway in Abuja.
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