Aiyedatiwa: No Survivor Recovered From Ondo Military Aircraft Crash

Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has said no survivor has been recovered from Monday’s military aircraft crash in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of the state.

 

Aiyedatiwa said rescue teams had only recovered parts of the aircraft, including wreckage from the wings, identity cards and military uniforms, while the main body remained submerged deep in the swamp.

 

The governor disclosed this on Monday night during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.

 

He said the aircraft, carrying 32 people comprising 25 passengers and seven crew members, was a surveillance aircraft travelling from Benin to Lagos when it lost radio contact at about 9:15 a.m.

 

According to him, information about the incident reached him at about 10:30 a.m. from the Chairman of Ilaje Local Government Area, who reported that residents had heard a sound resembling an air tremor before the aircraft plunged into a swamp opposite the Naval Forward Operating Base in Igbokoda.

 

“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,” he said.

 

Aiyedatiwa said naval personnel, local emergency officials, Amotekun operatives and residents immediately moved into the creek with boats following the crash, but no survivor was found.

 

He said the crash site had been cordoned off, while hospitals in Igbokoda and Okitipupa had been placed on standby, with ambulances recently procured for the state’s 18 local government areas also deployed for possible emergencies.

 

The governor added that the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau were investigating the crash.

 

He said the recovery of the aircraft’s black box would be crucial in determining the exact cause of the accident.