Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has said no survivor has been recovered from Monday’s military aircraft crash in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of the state, with only wreckage of wings, identity cards and uniforms seen.
Aiyedatiwa said rescue teams are yet to access the main body of the aircraft because it went deep into the swamp.
The governor disclosed this on Monday night during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.
He said the aircraft, with 32 persons on board, 25 passengers and seven crew members, was a surveillance aircraft on its way from Benin to Lagos, which lost radio signal at about 9:15 a.m.
He said information got to him at about 10:30 a.m. from the chairman of Ilaje Local Government that residents heard a sound like an air tremor before the aircraft dived into a swamp directly facing the Naval Forward Operating Base in Igbokoda.
“They saw the wreckage from the wings, some ID cards and uniforms indicating it was a military aircraft. The main body went deep into the swamp area. They haven’t been able to search the aircraft itself yet,” he said.
He said naval personnel, local emergency officials, Amotekun and residents moved into the creek with boats immediately the crash occurred, but no living soul was found.
He said the site has been cordoned off, while hospitals in Igbokoda and Okitipupa have been placed on standby with ambulances recently procured for the 18 local governments.
The governor said the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau are investigating and will need to recover the black box to determine the exact cause.
