A former Director of the State Security Service (SSS), Mike Ejiofor, has attributed the conflicting figures surrounding the number and identities of people aboard the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft that crashed in Ondo State to poor record-keeping.
Mr Ejiofor said proper documentation of passengers and crew members aboard the aircraft would have made it easier to establish the exact number of people on board and identify the casualties.
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The NAF released the names of 25 people aboard the aircraft, rather than the 32 earlier reported by government officials.
Mr Ejiofor spoke on Arise Television’s Daybreak programme on Wednesday.
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Commenting on the conflicting figures, he said the authorities should have been able to rely on the aircraft’s manifest to establish the identities of everyone on board.
“It goes again to the issue of data keeping; it would have been easier to get the manifest,” he said.
He said there was a possibility that some people aboard the aircraft might not have been included in the available manifest.
“I think they should rely more on the manifest of the aircraft if it was actually compiled from the people in the aircraft and their names were contained in a manifest,” he said.
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“It’s a sad situation that this simple record-keeping can just be having conflicts.”
NAF recent aircraft crash
The NAF aircraft crashed on 5 October in a riverine swamp in the Igbokoda area of Ondo State.
According to the information provided by the authorities, the ATR-42 military aircraft, with tail number NAF 931, was on a routine maritime patrol and transport mission from Benin City to Lagos when air traffic controllers lost contact with it.
The NAF said all 25 people on board – 20 passengers, mostly military personnel, and five crew members, died in the crash.
The wreckage was located in a dense, muddy swamp opposite a local naval base. Recovery efforts have reportedly been hampered by the terrain and the fact that much of the wreckage became submerged in water and mud.
President Bola Tinubu declared three days of national mourning and ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash.
The incident has also renewed concerns over the safety and maintenance of military aircraft in the country.
‘Investigate NAF aircraft operations’
Mr Ejiofor said the crash should prompt a broader examination of the Nigerian Air Force’s aircraft fleet, including the maintenance history and operational condition of its aircraft.
He described the frequency of military aircraft crashes as a concern that should be investigated thoroughly.
“What is the state of maintenance of all these aircraft? How long have they been serviced? From records we have, there have been over 10 crashes in the last 10 years,” he said.
“We should look into the general operations of the Air Force.”
He also cited the 21 May 2021 crash in which Ibrahim Attahiru, then chief of army staff, and other military personnel were killed.
Mr Ejiofor said the recurring incidents warranted a comprehensive review of military aviation operations rather than investigations being limited to individual crashes.
Crash site poses rescue challenge
On the search and rescue operation following the latest crash, Mr Ejiofor said the difficult terrain had posed a significant challenge to rescuers.
He said the proximity of the crash site to military and police facilities would ordinarily have raised expectations of a swift response, but the swampy terrain complicated the operation.
“The terrain posed a very serious challenge, and as we speak, the forces of the aircraft have not been recovered yet. So, there’s no hope that there will be any life,” he said.
He, however, cautioned against blaming those involved in the rescue operation, given the conditions at the crash site.
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Mr Ejiofor also cautioned against drawing conclusions about what caused the loud sound reportedly heard before the aircraft crashed.
He said it was too early to determine whether the aircraft exploded before hitting the ground or whether the impact itself produced the sound.
“For me, these are speculations,” he said.
“It’s possible the impact on crashing was the deafening noise, it might not.”
He added that an explosion could also have occurred before impact, potentially contributing to the scattering of debris and body parts.
“It’s also possible that there was an explosion before the impact, which led to the dissemination and finding of body parts,” he said.
He stressed that the cause of the crash could only be established after a proper investigation.
“So, until the investigation is complete, we can’t be specific about whether it was an explosion in the air or the impact on the ground,” he said.
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