Ondo NAF Crash: Schoolchildren, Soldiers’ Families Among 32 Victims

A day after the fatal Nigerian Air Force plane crash in Ondo State that claimed 32 lives, fresh details have emerged indicating that school children and family members of military officers were among those on board the ill-fated aircraft.

The ATR-42 aircraft with tail number NGR 931 crashed into a swamp opposite the Naval Base in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area, in the early hours of Monday, October 5, 2026. The aircraft was on a routine logistics flight from Benin to Lagos.

Sources close to the operation disclosed on Tuesday that the flight was carrying airmen and soldiers alongside their family members who had visited them in Edo and Delta States, including children returning to school in Lagos.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had on Monday confirmed that 25 passengers and seven crew members died after air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft at about 9:13 a.m.

It was learnt that the difficulty in releasing the manifest was due to the presence of civilian passengers on board, with the military making efforts to contact their families before making a public disclosure.

Chairman of Ilaje Local Government, Maurice Oripelaye, said military gear had been recovered from the swampy crash site, while the Olu of Igbokoda, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo, said the aircraft submerged without catching fire, leaving no survivor.

The NAF, through its spokesperson, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, said Search and Rescue operations remain ongoing.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu had on Monday declared three days of national mourning and ordered a thorough investigation, while Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa directed SEMA and other agencies to support rescue efforts at the crash site.
[With Vanguard report]