ACCORDING TO PUNCH NEWSPAPER Nine days after a Nigerian Air Force aircraft crashed in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, the wreckage and bodies of the 25 victims remain unrecovered, raising fears of a public health crisis as residents complain of an increasingly offensive stench from the crash site.
The development has heightened pressure on the military to accelerate recovery operations and address concerns over possible environmental contamination, with the community’s monarch and residents calling for urgent intervention by the federal and state governments.
Meanwhile, the Senate has called for a comprehensive audit of the Nigerian Air Force’s aircraft fleet and maintenance funding, while the House of Representatives has demanded an independent investigation into the October 5 crash. The NAF says it has intensified search efforts and constituted a 12-member board to investigate the incident.
The monarch of Igbokoda, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo, has urged the Federal and Ondo State governments to expedite efforts to recover the remains of victims of the Nigerian Air Force aircraft that crashed on October 5, 2026.
One week after the incident, neither the wreckage of the NAF ATR-42 aircraft nor the bodies of the 25 victims had been recovered, despite the deployment of sonar buoys and amphibious buggies for the search operation.
Odidiomo said residents had been enduring an increasingly offensive stench since the crash, which he attributed to decomposing human remains in the river. He also raised concerns about possible environmental pollution from spilled aviation fuel.
“The odour is extremely offensive. So many parts of the human body are floating around in the river. Some of the bodies have not been recovered. They have decomposed, and it is affecting everything,” the monarch said.
He added that the suspected pollution had affected residents’ access to clean water for domestic use, including cooking. He also said traces of aviation fuel could be seen on the river some distance from the crash site.
The monarch urged the authorities to accelerate the recovery of the victims’ remains and aircraft debris and commence an urgent environmental clean-up.
Responding, the Ondo State Commissioner for Environment, Mr Tob Loko, said the state government was working with the Federal Government to address the situation.
Loko said the state had dispatched a delegation to assess the environmental impact shortly after the crash, while residents and other responders had joined the recovery efforts.
He said the state was also assessing the extent of environmental contamination and its potential public health implications to determine the appropriate decontamination measures.
“Despite the number of days the recovery effort has been ongoing, no recovery has been made. None of the corpses has been recovered,” the commissioner said.
He acknowledged concerns about pollution, adding that the government was conducting a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and public health risks to ensure that appropriate measures were taken promptly.
A community leader, Segun Omogbemi, also confirmed the stench, saying it had become increasingly unbearable.
“What happened in Igbokoda is a very sad experience. Since Sunday, we have perceived this odour, very offensive. In fact, it is getting worse; we are thinking the odour is from the crash site,” he said.
Omogbemi appealed to the federal and state governments to speed up the recovery of the victims’ remains and implement appropriate measures to address the suspected pollution.
A resident, Veronica Molehin, similarly expressed concern over the worsening stench, saying it had persisted for days.
“My house is not too far from the scene of the crash; we perceive the odour here too. We have been on it since Friday, and we thought the government would have evacuated the remains of the victims, but they are still on it,” she said.
