Families of people killed in the Nigerian Air Force aircraft crash near Igbokoda, Ondo State, say they are still waiting for clear information about the identification of remains, the progress of recovery work and the investigation into the disaster.
The ATR 42 aircraft crashed on 5 October while flying from Benin City to Lagos on a routine mission. The Nigerian Air Force said all 25 people on board died, comprising 19 military personnel and six civilians.
President Bola Tinubu ordered an investigation into the crash and the Air Force said search and recovery operations had been intensified in the swampy area where the wreckage was found. The cause of the accident has not been disclosed.
A final message before the flight
Victor Anii, a software developer based in London, lost his older sister, Sergeant Esther Anii, in the crash. He told Reuters that Esther had sent him a message on the morning of 5 October asking for money to travel from Benin City to Lagos by bus.
According to Anii, the group had flown from Abuja but stopped in Benin City after a fault developed in the aircraft. Esther considered continuing the journey by road because of the delay. Hours later, the aircraft crashed after departing for Lagos.
Anii said the family could not reach Esther and her husband was also unable to contact some of his friends who were on the flight. The family learnt that she had died only after the Air Force released the passenger list the following day.
He also said an Air Force commander visited his parents two days after the crash with a condolence letter and a sealed envelope. The Nigerian Air Force did not address his claim that money had been offered when Reuters sought a response.
Families question communication
Damilola Folorunsho, whose 36-year-old brother Sunday was among the six civilians on the aircraft, told Reuters that no official had contacted her family.
Folorunsho said her mother had been staying with her since the crash. The family lives about 200 kilometres from the accident site and, at the time of the interview, did not know whether Sunday’s remains had been recovered or how far the investigation had progressed.
The Air Force did not answer Reuters’ question about whether carrying civilians on military aircraft was standard practice.
Air Force spokesperson Ehimen Ejodame referred questions about support for relatives and the identification of remains to official statements in which the service pledged assistance to bereaved families and said search and recovery operations were continuing.
On 15 October, the Air Force said multi-agency teams had recovered additional components of the aircraft from the crash area. It said the operation involved its personnel and other emergency agencies working in difficult terrain.
Investigation remains under scrutiny
The crash has renewed attention on the safety record of Nigerian military aviation. A Reuters review of publicly reported incidents found that at least nine Nigerian Air Force aircraft accidents killed more than 30 people in the five years before the Igbokoda crash.
The latest accident is one of the deadliest involving a Nigerian military aircraft in recent years. Initial official accounts gave differing figures for the number of people on board, but the Air Force later confirmed that the aircraft carried 25 people and that there were no survivors.
The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, described the deaths as a painful loss for the service and the country. He promised support for the families and directed that the circumstances of the crash be investigated.
For Anii, the priority is a credible explanation of what went wrong. “The most important thing now is to know what happened and ensure it never happens again,” he told Reuters.
