Mr Maurice Oripenaiye, Chairman, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, has said efforts are ongoing to recover the bodies of the people on board the Nigeria Air Force, NAF, aircraft which crashed on Monday.
The aircraft marked NAF-931 with 32 passengers was on a routine mission from Benin to Lagos when it plunged into a swampy area close to the Nigerian Navy Base in Igbokoda at about 11:00am.
Oripenaiye in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Tuesday in Igbokoda, said that a search and recovery team had been put in place.
He added that the Army, Navy, Police, Red Cross, National Emergency Management Authority, NEMA, State Emergency Management Agency, local divers among others were fully on ground for the operation.
The local government boss also said that arrangements were being made for heavy equipment to clear the waterways for easy access to the site.
According to him, HiTech Construction Company has been contacted for the usage of its equipment to clear the waterways for accessibility to the crash site.
Oripenaiye also said that for now, it was only the local divers using canoes, that were able to access the swampy terrain, adding that no dead body had been found.
According to him, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has directed all the necessary emergency agencies to the crash site for the recovery operation.
“This is also a national disaster. So, all necessary personnel, emergency authorities including local divers are on ground to search and recover dead bodies.
“As I speak with you, no dead body has been recovered from the site, but all will be done today to access the swampy area,” Oripenaiye said.
He sympathised with the NAF and families of the victims as well as residents of Ilaje, describing the incident as unfortunate.
Source: NAN
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