Senate Suspends National Security Summit Over NAF Plane Crash

The Senate has postponed its two-day National Security Summit scheduled for Monday, October 12, and Tuesday, October 13, 2026, following the tragic crash of a Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft in Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The postponement was announced on Tuesday by the Senate Leader and Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on the National Security Summit, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.

Bamidele said the committee had concluded preparations for the summit following the completion of zonal public hearings across the country, but the aircraft crash and the subsequent declaration of national mourning necessitated the decision to defer the event.

He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had declared three days of national mourning in honour of the 25 officers and seven crew members of the Nigerian Air Force who lost their lives in the crash.

“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,” Bamidele 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 expressed its condolences to President Tinubu, the Nigerian Armed Forces, particularly the Nigerian Air Force, and the families of the officers and crew members who lost their lives while serving the country.

It said a new date for the summit would be announced in due course, while appealing to stakeholders to bear with the Senate during the period of national mourning.

The ATR-42, a twin-engine turboprop aircraft capable of carrying between 30 and 50 passengers, reportedly crashed near a naval base in Igbokoda.

A video circulating on social media showed residents gathered near a river as rescuers searched the area by boat.

Following the incident, President Tinubu directed the Nigerian Air Force to immediately commence a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash.

He said the investigation was necessary to establish what led to the accident and prevent a recurrence.

A resident of the area, 39-year-old Dayo Akinte, a firewood hawker who lives about a kilometre from the crash site, told AFP that she initially thought the sound of the aircraft crashing was thunder.

The postponement means that stakeholders who had been preparing for the security summit will now await a new date to be announced by the Senate.