Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has declared three days of national mourning after a Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 jet crashed in Ondo State, killing all 32 people on board. The aircraft, with registration number NGR 931, was on a routine mission from Benin City to Lagos when it went down near a naval base in the Igbokoda area on Monday morning.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft at about 9:13 am. The plane was carrying 25 passengers and seven crew members. A massive search operation involving the Air Force, security agencies and the Ondo State government found no survivors. Tinubu directed that flags be flown at half-mast across the country and ordered the Air Force to immediately investigate the cause.

This is a painful moment for our Armed Forces and for the entire nation. Our Air Force personnel put their lives on the line every day to secure Nigeria. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten, Tinubu said in a statement. The crash is one of the deadliest military aviation disasters in Nigeria in recent years.