The Senate has postponed its two-day National Security Summit scheduled for Monday, 12th, and Tuesday, 13th, October, 2026, until further notice following the tragic crash of a Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft in Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area, Ondo State, which claimed the lives of 20 officers and five crew members.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on the National Security Summit, said the committee had already concluded the plan to hold the summit after the completion of zonal public hearings.
Bamidele, however, said the crash of the NAF ATR-42 aircraft suddenly necessitated the postponement of the national security summit on Monday.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu consequently declared three days of national mourning in honour of 25 officers and seven crew members of the Nigeria Air Force and directed that the national flags be flown at half-mast nationwide,” the lawmaker said.
“With the declaration of national mourning, the Senate resolved that the national security summit should be deferred till further notice in honour of the victims of the crash.”
The Senate also extended its heartfelt condolences “to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR; the Nigerian Armed Forces, particularly the Nigerian Air Force; and the families of the gallant officers and crew members who paid the supreme price in active service to the fatherland.”
It added that a new date for the summit would be communicated in due course and appealed to all the stakeholders “to take note of the national disaster and bear with the Senate during this period of national mourning.”
The plane crashed near a naval base. The ATR-42 — a twin-engine turboprop that the manufacturers say can carry between 30 and 50 passengers.
A video circulating on social media showed a small crowd gathered near a river while rescuers searched the area by boat. Tinubu said he had “directed the Nigerian Air Force to immediately commence a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash to prevent future occurrences”.
Dayo Akinte, 39, a firewood hawker who lives about a kilometre (mile) from where the accident occurred, described to AFP hearing a sound she thought was “thunder”, referring to the time she believes the plane went down.
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