Nigeria mourns as 32 killed in military plane crash

The Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has declared three days of national mourning following a tragic military aircraft crash in southern Ondo State, resulting in 32 fatalities. The plane, on a routine mission from Benin City to Lagos, came down near a naval base on Monday morning. A resident reported the plane crashed near a swamp, with debris including clothes and shoes found at the scene.

Smoke was visible rising from the area. Tinubu expressed deepest condolences for the 25 passengers and seven crew members on board and ordered a full investigation. National flags will be flown at half-mast across Nigeria as a mark of respect for the fallen. The Nigerian Air Force, a key player in the country's military operations, including combating armed groups and maintaining security, lost 32 personnel in this incident.

President Tinubu emphasized the sacrifice made by Air Force personnel every day to safeguard Nigeria. Efforts to contact the aircraft were unsuccessful before confirmation of the crash. The ATR-42 aircraft, carrying between 30 and 50 passengers, has been implicated in previous aviation accidents in Nigeria. In May 2021, a military plane crash in Kaduna killed Nigeria's army chief and ten others during adverse weather conditions.