Nigerian military aircraft crashes, killing 25

Remnants of a Nigerian military helicopter that crashed while carrying several passengers and crew members, in Ondo State, Nigeria, October 5, 2026.

Remnants of a Nigerian military helicopter that crashed while carrying several passengers and crew members, in Ondo State, Nigeria, October 5, 2026. (REUTERS/Stringer)


5 photos
Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

ABUJA, Oct 5 — ​A Nigerian military plane flying from Benin City to Lagos crashed on ‌Monday in southwestern Ondo state, killing all 25 passengers ⁠and crew members.

The ​Nigerian Air Force death ⁠toll announced on Tuesday was lower ‌than the ‌32 initially announced by Aviation Minister Festus ⁠Keyamo on Monday.

"NAF ⁠931 had 25 persons on board, comprising five crew members and 20 passengers," NAF said in a statement.

There were no survivors.

President Bola Tinubu has ordered ‌an investigation and declared ​three days of national mourning.

The Air Force ATR-42 aircraft was on a routine mission from Benin City to Lagos when air traffic controllers lost contact with it at 0813 GMT on Monday, ​Keyamo said. The accident was one ‌of the deadliest ‌air ⁠disasters in Nigeria in recent years.

The wreckage was later located near the coastal town of Igbokoda, where search and rescue ‌teams were deployed.

(Reporting ​by MacDonald Dzirutwe and ‌Camillus Eboh and ⁠Tife ​Owolabi, Editing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo, Aidan Lewis, Peter ​Graff)

Photos

Most recent World stories

Related topics

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.
Newsletter Signup

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button