Thirty-two people were on board a Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft when it went down near the Naval Base in Igbokoda, Ondo State, on Monday morning. The aircraft disappeared from radar at about 9:13 a.m. No official word on survivors has been released.
The aircraft, with tail number NGR 931, was travelling from Benin to Lagos when it crashed near the Naval Base in Igbokoda, Ondo State, after air traffic controllers lost contact with it. The flight path would have taken the aircraft over the coastal waterways of Ondo State before the signal was lost. The wreckage has since been found.
According to the Nigerian Air Force, the aircraft was an ATR-42 and was on a routine mission from Benin to Lagos when the accident occurred. The ATR-42 is a twin-turboprop regional aircraft commonly used by military and civilian operators across West Africa for short-haul transport missions. No explanation for the crash has been given.
In a statement issued on X by Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo, all attempts by air traffic controllers to establish radio contact with the aircraft proved unsuccessful before information later confirmed that it had crashed near the naval facility.
“All efforts to raise the aircraft on radio proved abortive,” Keyamo said, adding that later information confirmed the aircraft crashed close to the Naval Base in Igbokoda.
Preliminary information indicated that 25 passengers and seven crew members were on board the aircraft, bringing the reported number of people aboard to 32. Their identities have not been released.
The minister did not disclose the condition or identities of those on board, saying rescue efforts were still in progress. Emergency responders, including personnel from the Nigerian Navy facility at Igbokoda, were reported to have reached the general area of the crash site. That gap in information is what families with relatives in the Nigerian Air Force now sit with.
The NAF activated a search and rescue operation in conjunction with relevant authorities and emergency response agencies, but the identities and condition of those on board had not been officially disclosed as of the time of filing this report.
The Nigerian Air Force confirmed the crash in a statement by its Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame.
Ejodame said: “Search and rescue operations, in coordination with relevant authorities and emergency response agencies, are currently ongoing.”
The ministry said the aircraft was a military aircraft and clarified that the control and regulation of military aviation operations fell outside the authority of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority. The Accident Investigation Bureau, which handles civilian aviation incidents, has not been listed among the responding agencies.
Keyamo said he reached out directly to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, and committed the ministry’s full support to the ongoing rescue operation. No joint briefing has been announced.
The Ondo State Police Command also confirmed the crash, with its spokesperson, DSP Jimoh Abayomi, saying details were still emerging. Officers from the Ondo State command have been deployed to support coordination at the scene alongside military and emergency personnel. Ground-level coordination between agencies is underway.
There has been no official word on casualties or survivors, and the cause of the crash has not been established. Rescue teams remain at the Igbokoda site.
“Further information on this unfortunate incident will be made available subsequently,” Keyamo said. No timeline for that update was given.
Thirty-two people aboard military aircraft NGR 931 remain unaccounted for as search and rescue teams work the crash site near Igbokoda. The NAF confirmed the aircraft was on a routine mission from Benin to Lagos when the incident occurred. The public is waiting.
