ABUJA – Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Monday confirmed that all 32 people aboard a military aircraft that crashed near a local community in the country's southwestern Ondo State had died.

The military aircraft, carrying 25 passengers and seven crew members, crashed near the Naval Base in Igbokoda, a riverine community in Ondo State, said Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, in a statement.

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In a separate statement, Tinubu said that this is a painful moment for the Armed Forces and for the entire nation, adding that the sacrifice of the Air Force personnel "will never be forgotten."

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The Nigerian Air Force confirmed earlier that the aircraft was a twin-engine turboprop rather than a helicopter as previously believed. The ATR-42 aircraft was on a routine mission from Benin, a city in southern Nigeria, to Lagos when the incident occurred, the Air Force said.

Tinubu commended the Air Force for activating an immediate search and rescue operation following the accident.