The Ondo State Commissioner of Police, Felix Ohagwu, has said efforts to recover the wreckage and victims of the Nigerian Air Force aircraft that crashed in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area, are ongoing.
Ohagwu disclosed this on Tuesday during an assessment visit to the crash site, where he said the difficult terrain had continued to hamper the recovery operation.
The aircraft crashed in a swampy area near the Naval Base in Igbokoda on Monday while reportedly travelling from Benin to Lagos on a routine mission.
The Federal Ministry of Aviation initially said 25 passengers and seven crew members were on board the aircraft.
However, subsequent reports from the Nigerian Air Force and other authorities put the total number of people on board at 25, comprising 20 passengers and five crew members.
Ohagwu said the crash site was surrounded by creeks and mangroves, making access particularly difficult.
“What happened yesterday was quite unfortunate. It’s a very difficult terrain, the creeks, mangroves, assessing the site of the crash was not easy. I had to use a smaller boat, a canoe, to assess it,” he said.
The police commissioner said personnel had remained at the scene since the crash, but the swampy conditions had made it difficult to remove the aircraft and recover the remains.
He said no survivor had been found and that responders had seen parts of the aircraft and human remains scattered in the water.
“There are no survivors yet. We are yet to see any survivors. No survivors yet,” Ohagwu said.
He added that the command was awaiting heavier equipment capable of pulling the submerged wreckage out of the swamp.
“We are still expecting a bigger machine to be able to pull the wreckage from the water. We have to pull it,” he said.
Ohagwu said the police were also expecting assistance from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant agencies to provide the equipment required for the recovery operation.
“For now, the recovery of the wreckage is still in progress. I will not say much until after the conclusion of the investigation by the relevant agencies,” he added.
The Nigerian Air Force has commenced an investigation into the cause of the crash, while President Bola Tinubu has ordered a thorough probe and declared three days of national mourning for the personnel who died in the incident.
Recovery operations at the crash site remain ongoing.
