Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa says no survivor has been found following the crash of a Nigerian Air Force aircraft in the Igbokoda area of Ilaje Local Government Area on Monday morning.
The aircraft, which had 25 passengers and seven crew members on board, was on a routine mission from Benin City, Edo State, to Lagos when it crashed shortly after 9:00am.
Aiyedatiwa said residents, emergency responders and security personnel who joined the search operation had so far found no one alive at the crash site.
“No survivors yet from the information I’ve gotten from the people in there. I’ve not been able to speak to the Naval captain who is leading the base, but my security advisor got in contact with the Amotekun leader in the local government and the local government chairman. From all indications, there are no survivors yet that we can record.”
The governor said people in the area heard what he described as an air tremor before some residents saw the aircraft nose-dive into the swamp.
According to him, there was initially no fire at the crash site, prompting personnel at the nearby naval base to carefully approach the area after assessing the situation.
“They heard the sound like an air tremor, the shaking. There was no fire, nothing, but some people saw the aircraft nose-dive into the swamp area.”
Aiyedatiwa said Nigerian Navy personnel initially stayed back because of concerns about a possible explosion or fire before moving towards the wreckage when no immediate signs of either were observed.
Local emergency officials and residents subsequently joined the rescue effort, while personnel from the Amotekun base in Ilaje Local Government Area also moved to the scene.
However, the governor said the teams could not find any living person inside the aircraft.
“They could not see any living soul that was in that aircraft, but they saw the ruins, some of the wreckage from the wings of the aircraft, with some ID cards that were retrieved, and then some uniforms. That was when they knew it was a military aircraft.”
The governor said the Nigerian Air Force was working to determine the cause of the crash.
The aircraft crashed in a swampy area, making access to the wreckage difficult and complicating the ongoing search and recovery operation.
Authorities have yet to release the identities of those on board or provide further details on the circumstances surrounding the crash.
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