A military helicopter has crashed and burned beyond recognition in Igbokoda, Ondo State. Security forces have launched rescue and investigation operations.
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A military helicopter crashed at the riverine area of Igbokodo of Ondo State
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The burnt state of the aircraft makes it difficult the extent of casualties in the crash
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Being an oil-producing area of the state, helicopters frequent the area.
There are uncertainties about the fate of people involved in a military helicopter crash that happened on Monday morning opposite a Naval Base in Igbokoda, Ondo State.
According to a source who spoke to The Punch Newspapers, the incident happened in a swampy area of the town.
“It happened this morning. We heard a very loud sound in the area where the incident occurred, but we could not get there because the place is a swampy area inside the creek; we are just looking at it from afar,” the source said.
“But the police and the military people later came around there for rescue, but the occupants of the helicopter might have died there.”
Maurice Oripelaye, chairman of the Ilaje Local Government Area, told journalists that the military equipment was found at the crash site but it was not possible to determine the number of people on board.
He said that the aircraft had been burnt beyond recognition making it difficult to tell whether anyone survived the crash or the number of lives the incident claimed.
Igbokoda, being a riverine community and commercial centre, it is one of Ondo State’s major oil-producing areas making helicopters used in oil and gas-related logistics frequent the area.
DSP Abayomi Jimoh, spokesperson of the police, said investigations had already commenced into the crash.
“The Ondo State Police Command confirms the reported aircraft crash in the Igbokoda axis of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State on Monday, 5th October 2026. Details surrounding the incident are still emerging, as efforts to establish the full circumstances continue.”
“The public will be duly informed as soon as further credible information becomes available,” he stated.
