ABUJA — President Bola Tinubu has declared three days of national mourning and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast nationwide in honor of the military personnel who lost their lives in Monday’s Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft crash in Ondo State.
The directive was announced in a statement issued on Monday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The incident involved a NAF ATR-42 aircraft carrying 25 passengers and seven crew members. The plane crashed near a naval base in the Igbokoda area of Ondo State while on a routine flight from Benin, Edo State, to Lagos.
In a formal message to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, and the entire NAF hierarchy, President Tinubu lamented the tragedy as a severe blow to the nation’s security architecture.
“This is a painful moment for our Armed Forces and for 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 has instructed the Nigerian Air Force to launch an immediate and comprehensive investigation to determine the cause of the accident and prevent future occurrences. He also commended emergency and rescue units for their swift deployment of search and rescue operations following the crash.
