A NIGERIAN Air Force (NAF) helicopter made emergency landing in Benue State on Wednesday, three days after ATR-42 aircraft crashed into a swamp in Igbokoda, Ondo State, killing all 25 people on board.
The wreckage of the Ondo aircraft and the remains of its occupants are yet to be recovered.
The ICIR reported that the aircraft, identified as NAF 931, crashed on Monday, October 5, while on a routine mission from Benin City, Edo State, to Lagos.
The NAF later confirmed that 25 people, five crew members and 20 passengers were on board and that there were no survivors.
As of Thursday, October 8, recovery teams were still battling to locate and retrieve the submerged aircraft from the swampy crash site in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area.
Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who visited the crash site on Wednesday, said the main body of the aircraft had not been located and was believed to be deeply submerged.
He said divers had recovered human remains, clothing and fragments of the aircraft, but the main wreckage remained underwater.
The recovery operation has now moved underwater, with the Nigerian Navy deploying specialised side-scan sonar equipment to map the crash site and determine the location of the submerged aircraft.
Military commanders, including the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Abubakar Mustapha, a rear admiral, and the Air Officer Commanding, Logistics Command, Abubakar Suleh, an air vice marshal, inspected the crash site as the operation entered its third day.
The recovery effort involves the Nigerian Navy, NAF, police, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), State Emergency Management Agency and local divers.
The difficult terrain has also forced authorities to deploy amphibious machines, popularly known as swamp buggies, to enable rescuers and heavy equipment to reach the location where the aircraft is believed to have sunk.
The black box, which could provide critical information about what happened before the crash, was also yet to be located as of Wednesday.
The crash occurred near the Nigerian Navy’s Forward Operating Base in Igbokoda.
According to Aiyedatiwa, eyewitness accounts suggested that the pilot might have experienced an engine problem and manoeuvred the aircraft away from the populated area before crashing it into the swamp.
The governor said the aircraft came down about 200 metres from the community, potentially preventing greater loss of lives.
The traditional ruler of Igbokoda, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo, similarly praised the pilot, saying the aircraft’s final manoeuvre spared the community from a potentially larger disaster.
While recovery operations continue, the NAF has constituted a board of inquiry to establish the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The investigation is expected to examine the aircraft’s operation, maintenance, flight circumstances and other factors that might have contributed to the accident.
The NAF urged the public to avoid speculation and the circulation of unverified information while the investigation is ongoing.
President Bola Tinubu also ordered a thorough probe into the crash and declared three days of national mourning for the victims.
The ICIR reported that the NAF 931 had spent almost four years at a specialist aircraft maintenance facility in Germany, where its right engine and other components were removed.
The recovery operation in Ondo coincided with another NAF aviation incident in Benue State on Wednesday, October 7, at 10:30 a.m.
NAF confirmed that one of its helicopters made a precautionary landing in Benue after providing close air support to ground troops during an operation in the state.
NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Ehimen Ejodame, an air commodore, said in a statement on Wednesday that the military operation targeted suspected kidnappers in Ogbadigbo LGA of the state, near the Enugu-Benue boundary.
“Following the successful completion of the mission, the pilot, on return to base, exercised his professional discretion to execute a precautionary landing approximately 10 nautical miles from the airfield,” the spokesperson said.
Eyewitnesses said the aircraft touched down on a farmland in Utur Tse-Igboji community of Makurdi.
Ejodame said the operation disrupted the activities of the criminal elements and supported the advance of the ground forces.
“This is in accordance with established operational and safety procedures following combat missions. The helicopter has returned to base,” Ejodame added.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.