Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has offered his condolences to the families of victims who died after a Nigerian Air Force plane crashed on Monday in the country's southwestern Ondo state.
The Nigerian military has yet to give a casualty figure. However, a statement by President Tinubu's spokesperson Bayo Onanuga suggests all the 32 people on board lost their lives.
''The President extends his deepest condolences to the family of the 25 passengers and seven crew members involved, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, and all officers, airmen and airwomen of the Nigerian Air Force,'' the statement says.
The military aircraft was on a "routine mission" from Benin City in southern Nigeria to the economic hub of Lagos when it went down at Igbokoda in Ondo state shortly after 9:00am (0800 GMT), the president and the air force said.
‘Painful moment’
"This is a painful moment for our armed forces and for the entire nation," Tinubu's office said in a statement. It did not give the identities of the victims
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo said earlier on X that the plane had crashed near a naval base.
Keyamo and Tinubu described it as an ATR-42 - a twin-engine turboprop that the manufacturers say can carry between 30 and 50 passengers
The president said he had "directed the Nigerian Air Force to immediately commence a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash to prevent future occurrences".
Search and rescue operations
Airforce spokesman Ehimen Ejodame earlier said "search and rescue operations" were ongoing "in coordination with relevant authorities and emergency response agencies".
Igbokoda is located in Ilaje, an oil-producing region in southern Nigeria.
