Nigerian Air Force Crash Kills 25, Prompts Civil-Military Aviation Safety Push

A Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft crashed near Igbokoda in Ondo State on October 5, killing all 25 people aboard—20 passengers and five crew members. The aircraft, NAF 931, lost contact at approximately 9:13 a.m. while on a routine mission from Benin to Lagos. The wreckage was located in a swampy area near a Naval Base in the Ilaje Local Government Area. Recovery operations involved the Nigerian Navy and Marine Police at the difficult-to-access crash site. Among the deceased was Isa Muyiwa Adeshina, a flying officer who had been commissioned just nine days earlier on September 26 after emerging as the best graduating cadet of Branch Commission Course 3 at the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna. Before joining the military in 2010, Adeshina worked as a teacher and vice-principal at As-Siraat Comprehensive College in Lagos, where he taught physics and mathematics from 2004 to 2010.

President Bola Tinubu declared three days of national mourning for the victims and directed the Nigerian Air Force to investigate the cause of the crash. The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, ordered a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident.

Following the crash, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo and Air Marshal Aneke met in Abuja to strengthen cooperation between civil and military aviation sectors. The two leaders agreed to establish a joint framework involving the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the NAF to enhance aviation safety, airworthiness, certification, training, and capacity building. Keyamo stated that aviation accidents affect all sectors equally and highlighted the need to bridge the longstanding operational divide between civil and military aviation. He noted that the NAF already depends on civil aviation infrastructure, particularly air traffic control, making structured partnership essential. The proposed collaboration will include direct communication between NCAA leadership and the Chief of Air Staff, with a joint committee established to coordinate efforts. Keyamo offered NAF personnel access to relevant civil aviation training programmes, while Aneke confirmed that military personnel would also make their specialized expertise available to the civil aviation sector.