Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has visited the site of the Nigerian Air Force aircraft crash at Igbokoda, directing a sustained search for the remains of the victims and wreckage of the aircraft.

Aiyedatiwa, who gave the directive at the scene of the incident on Wednesday, described the accident as a national tragedy.

The military aircraft with 25 people on board, was on a special mission from Benin to Lagos, when it crashed at about 11.00a.m on Monday.

The governor visited the scene alongside personnel of the Nigerian Navy and Air Force, divers, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Director for the South-West and locals involved in the recovery efforts.

Aiyedatiwa, who described the scene as a “very gory sight”, said parts of bodies, clothes, jackets belonging to the Air Force personnel and broken aircraft parts had been recovered and preserved for further investigation.

According to him, the difficulty in accessing the crash site prompted him to direct the Ministry of Works to deploy two amphibious machines, popularly known as swamp boogies, to improve access through the waterways.

He said the main body of the aircraft was yet to be sighted, adding that machines had enabled recovery teams to move bigger boats closer to the site to excavate the soil in search of other parts of the main body of the aircraft.

The governor said Navy personnel and local divers were continuing the search in the deeper sections of the area for possible bodies and the cockpit.

“From construction experience and analysis of this area, for you to get to refusal level, it’ll get to about 30 metres deep,” he said.

Aiyedatiwa also disclosed that jet fuel was flowing into the water, resulting in pollution of the area with aviation fuel.

He expressed gratitude that the aircraft did not crash in the middle of the community, saying such an occurrence would have resulted in a major catastrophe.

“Only the pilot would have been able to explain the efforts made to manoeuvre the aircraft. From accounts given by residents, they saw the aircraft descending with what sounded like an engine problem.

“It was coming down and almost appeared set to crash within the community. However, the pilot was able to manoeuvre the aircraft and bring it down about 200 metres away from the community before it went into the swampy area.

“The terrain is so soft that it appears the aircraft may have sunk deep into the mud, which is why it has not been seen.

“From construction experience and analysis of the terrain, reaching refusal level during piling operations in this area can require going as deep as 35 to 40 kilometres,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Commander of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base, Igbokoda, Capt. Andy Alemongwa, briefed the governor on the progress of the search and recovery operations.

(NAN)

Three suspected members of a robbery gang have narrated how they allegedly dispossessed a traditional ruler of his crown and other valuables during an operation along the Ife Expressway in Osun State.

The suspects, who were arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, were also linked to the alleged robbery of motorists and the theft of about five vehicles during separate operations on the highway.

The stolen valuables were estimated at approximately N50 million.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Tijani Fatai, disclosed the arrests, on Wednesday, while briefing journalists on the command’s operations over the past month.

Fatai identified the suspects as Chubuzor Anasihwe, 31; Uchenna Steven, 26; and Ejike Ani, 31.

He said operatives of the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit, acting on actionable intelligence, traced and arrested the suspects at two locations in Lagos.

According to the commissioner, preliminary investigations linked the suspects to robbery operations allegedly carried out on August 23 and September 30, 2026, along the Ife Expressway.

Fatai said the police recovered a Toyota van with registration number BDJ 180 AJ, Oyo State, which was allegedly used by the gang.

He added that the suspects had made confessional statements and were assisting the police in efforts to recover the remaining stolen vehicles, arrest other gang members and retrieve the weapons allegedly used during the operations.

However, one of the suspects, Ani, claimed that the traditional ruler was not the gang’s intended target.

According to Ani, the gang encountered the monarch while returning to Lagos after carrying out another robbery.

Ani said a friend identified as Obinna invited him to participate in the operation after he complained that he was broke.

“It was one of my friends, Obinna, who invited us for the operation. He told us that we were going to snatch vehicles.

“I told him that I was broke and needed money. That was when he told me about the operation, and I agreed,” he said.

Ani also claimed that the gang did not use real firearms during the operation. Instead, he said, the suspects fashioned sticks to resemble guns and wrapped them in cello tape.

He said they were seated at the back of the vehicle while returning to Lagos when Obinna allegedly spotted the monarch’s vehicle.

“We were sitting at the back of the vehicle when Obinna sighted the monarch’s car.

“He was the one who took everything from him. We did not know that he had collected the crown and other valuables. It was later that the police showed us everything,” he said.

The police said investigations were ongoing to arrest other members of the gang and recover the remaining stolen vehicles and alleged weapons.

Dr Matthew Uwuigbe, a senior lecturer at Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Edo State, has died in a hotel room after reportedly having an encounter with a 21-year-old commercial sex worker.

Uwuigbe, a lecturer in the Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science, was said to have died on Monday, October 5, 2026, at a hotel in the Mosco area of Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area of the State.

Confirming the incident, spokesperson of the Edo State Police Command, Eno Ikoedem, said the hotel owner, manager and the lady involved in the incident had been arrested and detained for questioning.

Ikoedem disclosed that the command received a report at about 8pm on Monday that the lecturer lodged in the hotel and engaged the services of a 21-year-old woman identified as Angela Defa Jacob.

The police spokesperson added that the lecturer later asked the woman to go out and purchase water for him but came back to find the lifeless body of the lecturer. She said the investigation has commenced.

“The woman returned to the room and discovered Uwuigbe lying lifeless, prompting the report to the police,” the PPRO stated.

Ikoedem further disclosed that the circumstances surrounding the lecturer’s death were being investigated, adding that “the arrests were part of efforts to establish what transpired before his death.”

She disclosed that Uwuigbe’s remains had been deposited at the Oriaifo Memorial Hospital Mortuary for preservation, while the investigation continues.

Also reacting to the incident, the university management distanced the institution from the circumstances surrounding the incident, stressing that the death occurred outside the university environment.

Spokesperson for AAU, Otunba Aladenika, confirmed that Uwuigbe was a staff member of the university, stressing that the incident was unrelated to the institution’s official activities.

Aladenika emphasized that the woman involved was not a student of the university and described the matter as the lecturer’s private affair.