The traditional ruler of Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje LGA in Ondo state, Afolabi Odidiomo has said the community is facing a health challenge following the crash of a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft in the area last week.
The paramount ruler made the revelation when he spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday.
He said decaying bodies of the crash victims are polluting the swamp, a tributary to the community’s potable water reserves.
Diaspora Digital Media reported that the NAF 931 aircraft, carrying 25 passengers, plunged into the Igbokoda swamps on October 5, 2026.
No survivors have been found, according to Ehimen Ejodame, the spokesman of NAF.
Mr. Ejodame said the aircraft was on a routine mission from Benin to Lagos when the accident occurred.
He added that search-and-rescue procedures were immediately activated, with response efforts conducted in coordination with relevant authorities to locate and account for everyone on board.
Kelvin Aneke, the chief of air staff, has since directed a comprehensive investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Afterwards, the Ondo state government deployed two specialised swamp buggies in a bid to retrieve the wreckage of the aircraft.
At the moment, no bodies had been recovered.
Odidiomo, however, said the incident has left the community with contaminated water for domestic and other uses.
“The concern of everybody in this community today is that our government spent time, energy, money, and effort looking for people that had been chopped into pieces by the crash. The pieces that are floating everywhere in our rivers. The pieces that have decayed left so much stench that is unbelievable,” the monarch said.
“Going close to the river is so scary now for children who usually go to swim when they return from school, because they see human flesh everywhere as they swim. Fish are also dying everywhere.
“So, the river that used to be friendly with children has become scary, as we wonder why the government cares so much for the dead rather than the living.
“This same river where the plane crashed into is what supplies our drinking water. We have a water treatment machine at Aboto, about seven kilometres from here. The water doesn’t come every day, and when it comes, it is this same water that flows there, pumped to be treated for our drinking.
“So, it means whatever happens, pollution is already in the river, either as a result of decayed bodies or as oil that dropped into the river, and any other pollution that went into the water thereof.”
The monarch called for an immediate clean-up of the water to prevent an epidemic, saying the lack of a plan to protect residents is unfair to the community.
He said the government could have cordoned the area to prevent the polluted water from emptying into the main river.
“We are asking the government for cleanup. We are asking the government for remediation, a kind of restoration of the environment,” he said.
“The restoration now does not mean that we want the trees planted back, but we want the government to still do something in memory of those that died just as we have in Lagos and Ogun states.”
