IGBOKODA: African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has called for an independent investigation into the Nigerian Air Force aircraft crash in Igbokoda, Ondo State, insisting that personnel responsible for aircraft maintenance and procurement should not be involved in investigating the incident.
Sowore made the demand during a visit to the crash site on Friday, October 9, 2026, where he questioned how the wreckage and victims’ remains were being handled.
The activist shared a video of his visit on X on Saturday, October 10, calling for independent experts to examine the aircraft and establish the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash.
According to him, the investigation should be conducted by professionals who were not involved in the aircraft’s maintenance or procurement processes to ensure transparency and credibility.
“Those who are responsible for maintenance, procurements should not be the ones investigating what happened. We should bring outsiders, Sowore said.
During the visit, Sowore expressed concern over the handling of the crash site, arguing that the failure to properly recover and examine every part of the aircraft could undermine efforts to determine the cause of the accident.
He maintained that investigators should retrieve the wreckage and reconstruct the aircraft for detailed examination by qualified experts.
“That’s not how to investigate accidents. How it is done all over the world is that every part of that aircraft must be retrieved and pinned back together by experts because if there had been a bomb blast, how would we know?” he asked.
Sowore also criticised what he described as an inadequate response to the loss of lives, insisting that the focus should remain on the victims and the need to establish what went wrong.
“Something went wrong, and it’s fundamental. And we are just looking at this and saying, oh, they have visited. No, it’s not a matter of the visitors. It’s a matter of the passengers. People died,” he said.
The AAC presidential candidate further lamented the deaths, noting that one of the victims had recently married.
In a statement accompanying the video, Sowore said he travelled from Abuja to Akure before proceeding by road to Igbokoda, where he met and marched alongside affected community members and grassroots leaders.
The Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft, with registration number NAF 931, crashed in Igbokoda, the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, on October 5, 2026.
The aircraft was reportedly on a routine mission from Benin City, Edo State, to Lagos when the incident occurred. The Nigerian Air Force confirmed that all 25 people aboard the aircraft—five crew members and 20 passengers died in the crash.
The tragedy has prompted calls for a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the loss of all those on board.
The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, has pledged that the military will conduct a comprehensive investigation into the crash.
Aneke said relevant evidence would be secured, documented and examined before any conclusion was reached regarding the cause of the accident.
Sowore’s demand for an independent probe adds to the calls for transparency and accountability as investigators work to establish what happened to the aircraft.
While the cause of the crash has not been established in the supplied report, the investigation is expected to examine the available evidence and determine the circumstances surrounding the fatal incident.
