A Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft, marked NAF 931, crashed in the Obe-Rebby swamp in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Monday, October 5, 2026. The aircraft had departed Abuja for Lagos on Sunday, October 4, 2026, with a stop in Benin City, Edo State, to drop off passengers. Sources familiar with the incident said the aircraft developed an engine fault in Benin and was grounded overnight for repairs.
According to a source, technicians worked on the aircraft overnight in Benin, and it took off on Monday morning for Lagos but crashed minutes after takeoff. A relative of one of the victims confirmed that the passenger had informed the family about the technical problem after arriving in Benin. The relative said the victim had originally been expected in Lagos on Sunday but told the family that the aircraft had developed a fault and that he would travel once it was certified fit to fly.
The accounts contradict the impression that the aircraft was simply conducting a routine Benin-to-Lagos mission when the crash occurred. A source questioned the description of the flight as a routine military mission, arguing that the aircraft had been used to transport passengers from Abuja to Lagos, with a stop in Benin to drop off some of them. The source also said the aircraft, alongside NAF 930, had been used to transport VIPs to different locations across the country.
Another military source confirmed that technicians had worked on the aircraft in Benin on Sunday before it departed for Lagos the following morning. The source said the technicians in Benin claimed to have fixed the fault, but the aircraft crashed a few minutes after takeoff. The aircraft subsequently lost contact with air traffic controllers at about 9:13 a.m. on Monday, shortly after taking off from Benin Airport.
The wreckage of the aircraft was located in the Obe-Rebby swamp near the Naval Base in Igbokoda. Rescue operations were still ongoing at the crash site as of Wednesday morning, more than 48 hours after the incident. No bodies of the victims had been recovered from the swamp as of the time of filing this report. The cause of the crash is still unknown and an investigation is expected to be conducted.
The African Democratic Congress has demanded clarification over the presence of civilians, including children, on the military aircraft. The party’s national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the Nigerian Air Force’s description of the flight as a “routine mission” was insufficient to explain the circumstances surrounding the passengers’ presence on board.
Abdullahi said the investigation demanded by the party must establish the purpose of the mission, identify who authorised the passengers to travel on the aircraft and determine the circumstances that led to the crash. He said the families of the victims deserved answers, while the country deserved accountability over the incident. The incident has raised questions about the safety and oversight of military aircraft operations.
Key points
- The aircraft was not on a routine mission when it crashed in Ondo State.
- The aircraft had developed an engine fault in Benin and was grounded overnight for repairs.
- The African Democratic Congress has demanded clarification over the presence of civilians on the military aircraft.
