Black Monday: Families in tears after Airforce plane crash
By MONSURUDEEN OLOWOOPEJO
Pain, horror, and unimaginable grief has swept through the nation after a military aircraft carrying 32 people—including Nigerian Air Force (NAF) officers, women and children identified as their spouse and offsprings—crashed into a murky swamp in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, shortly after airborne.
To the families, the joy of welcoming their loved ones back to share their experiences outside the home, spend memorable times together suddenly started fading before them and they begun to wish that the hand of time could be revsersed, in order to save the victims from boarding the ill-fated aircraft in Edo State.
But all these, according officers closed to the victims’ families, were further compounded when news filtered in that none of the passengers and crew members aboard the aircraft escape death and that the plane has been buried under the swamp where it crashed.
As gathered from senior military officers who did not want their names in public considering that they were not authorised to speak, they identified about 10 Airforce officers, four women and two others aboard the crash plane.
Some of the civilians said to be aboard the flight who were identified by the senior officers after visiting their bereaved families were: Sunday Micheal, Joy Micheal, Gideon Omotola, Ukeme David, and Godstime Tarabwa, while the military officers were M. Akintoye, M. Adeshina, A. Muhammed, G. Eledan, A. Ani, A. Mbadugha and others.
The aircraft, a NAF ATR-42 with tail number NGR 931, was en route to Lagos from Benin when it vanished on Monday from radar screens during a heavy downpour and plummeted into the waterlogged terrain near the local Naval Base.
During the visit to one of the officers’ families, sources said that his child was yet accept that the father will not return home and that their conversation earlier in the day was the last between them.
It was learnt that the child asked repeatedly from his fathers colleagues if truly the breadwinner of the family will not be return home to take his reserved seat at the dining table.
Eyewitnesses narrated that the Airforce officers, who could not hold back their grief, left the home to avoid revealing unauthorised information to the child.
Residents, who assisted emergency officials during the search and rescue operations, disclosed to our correspondents that the crash site presented a harrowing scene of devastation.
They narrated that the swampy terrain that had been a major route for routine NAF flights turned into a watery graveyard as human remains, torn clothing, school shoes, and scattered personal effects floated on the surface of the river.
According to them, the wreckage itself remained entirely submerged in the deep mud, hidden beneath the dark water.
The traumatized residents of the coastal community further described hearing a deafening roar as the aircraft fell from the stormy skies before slamming into the marshland.
In a video obtained by The Guild, local fishermen, who joined the search and rescue operations were seen pointing to the clothes, shoes and human parts found floating on the waterways across the water.
Aside that, the residents noted that wreckage of the aircraft found by the local emergency response team were collated and handed over to the officials for further investigations on the search.
According to them, the torrential rainfall complicated early rescue efforts, considering that the villagers had canoes which cannot navigate the waterways under the heavy rainfall.
…Tinubu rushes back to Abuja, orders probe
Worried by the impact of the crash on the Federal Government’s fight against insurgency, President Bola Tinubu has returned to Abuja earlier then scheduled, and expressed deep sorrow over the loss of gallantry and innocent civilian lives, ordering an immediate and thorough investigation into the cause of the disaster.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President described the incident as a “painful moment for our Armed Forces and the entire nation.”
“Our Air Force personnel put their lives on the line every day to secure Nigeria. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Tinubu stated.
The President confirmed he had been briefed by Air Marshal Aneke and directed the Nigerian Air Force to determine precisely what led to the crash with a view to preventing future occurrences.
He also commended the swift intervention of first responders, the Ondo State Government, and local community members who rushed to the scene.
Confirming the tragedy earlier in the day, the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, revealed that air traffic controllers lost radio contact with the aircraft shortly before receiving reports of the crash.
Keyamo clarified that while military aviation operates outside the regulatory mandate of his ministry and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), full civilian aviation resources have been deployed to assist the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, in the search and recovery operations.
“This is a national tragedy,” Keyamo noted, extending his condolences to the military high command and affected families.
Local fishermen in wooden canoes were seen navigating the debris-strewn waters, attempting to retrieve what little they could as military search teams cordoned off the area.
Speaking on the disaster, the traditional ruler of Igbokoda, the Olu of Igbokoda, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo, expressed relief that the plane did not hit the densely populated residential areas nearby, though he lamented the absolute loss of life.
“I was in court when the incident happened and directed palace officials to the site. At first, nobody knew if it was a passenger plane or a helicopter,” the monarch said.
“Our first thanks to Almighty God is that it did not happen inside the town; otherwise, the casualties would have been catastrophic. From all gathered so far, there is no survivor.”