26/09/2022
26 September
ON THIS DAY IN 1992, A MILITARY TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT, TRAVELING WITH OFFICERS FROM LAGOS TO KADUNA CRASHED THREE MINUTES AFTER TAKE-OFF IN EJIGBO, LAGOS, KILLING ALL OVER 200 PERSONS ON BOARD.
On this day in 1992 a Nigerian Air Force Lockheed C-130H Hercules crashed in the Ejigbo canal in Lagos, three minutes after take-off from Lagos, Nigeria.
All 158 Army Officers on board were killed, including 8 foreign nationals.
The aircraft was taking off at high weight and its three engines failed.
The aircraft was serial number 911.[
The 26th of September, 1992 was a Saturday and a tragedy of monumental proportion silently crept into the world’s most populous black nation.
It was a disaster so great that it left the country’s military President and her Generals in tears, reducing them to babies.
The NAF 911 was overloaded.
The turnout of passengers that day was so large that 48 officers were not able to even board it.
A naval officer who was a former military administrator of Ondo State was said to have stormed out of the plane when he felt the pre-flight test was taking too much of his time.
He was not alone. Another naval officer who was also a former military administrator (of Ogun State) also reportedly left his seat, vacating it for a junior officer saying he could afford the flight ticket to Kaduna.
The NAF 911 was overloaded because other aircraft in the fleet were useless and grounded.
THE CRASH
On that fateful day, at 5:27 pm, it was already getting a bit dark, the fully-loaded aircraft took off from the Runway 19 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, its destination was the city of Kaduna in northern Nigeria. However, just few minutes after take-off, the pilots discovered that something had gone terribly wrong.
Nigerians on the ground did not know what was going on but those living around Ejigbo, Isolo and Okota settlements close to the airport were so alarmed at the proximity of the aircraft that Mrs. Funke Akanni, a resident of Ejigbo later described it thus: One of the most dangerously low flights.
In just about two minutes after take-off, the aircraft was already in big trouble.
As the pilots battled and hope for the best in the cockpit, the American-made transport plane simply refused to gain any lift.
It was flying dangerously low but by a stroke of fate, it missed the high-rise buildings.
Like a spoilt generator, the aircraft made some grunts, inside the cockpit was the real struggle but its power failed.
After a while, the plane started gliding and all of a sudden, it took a nose dive and went straight down with a slam and a muffled din that sounded like an earthquake, according to Mr. Bola Arije, a resident of Okota.
The Nigerian Air Force C-130 (NAF 911) had just crashed after just three minutes in the air and a mere distance of 10 kilometers from the airport.
All passengers on board were killed.
Immediately the aircraft took off from the airport, the engines started failing. A C-130 has four engines, two on each side. It can manage with three or in worse conditions, with two (one on each side) but on this very day, one of the engines packed up, the pilot attempted to make a return to base then a second one failed too and they decided to ditch the aircraft inside the Ejigbo Canal and even deployed the water landing gear and then the third engine also gave way. Three out of the four engines had failed when the aircraft was barely 500 feet above the ground.
The pilot, 40-year-old Justus P Alaboson, easy-going, soft-spoken father of three from Rivers State must have been trying his best to avert a tragedy but luck was not his side that day.
Just promoted Wing Commander less than 24 hours earlier, Alaboson was one of the finest pilots in the Nigerian Air Force.
As a matter of fact, he had averted a disaster with the C-130H previously when two of its engines failed in mid-air. Everyone was so impressed with his heroic feat that he received multiple accolades and even a guarantee of employment in the future from the manufacturers of the plane, Lockheed Corporation of Georgia in the United States (now known as Lockheed Martin).
So on that very day, Wing Commander Alaboson and his co-pilot Wing Commander A S Mamadi (fondly called Mammy by his colleagues) tried all the tricks in the piloting book to prevent another disaster but it was not to be.
The duo even tried to jettison the fuel so as to return to base all to no avail. Three engines had failed and there was nothing they could do and it happened so fast that in less than 200 seconds, the aircraft was lying in a tropical mangrove swamp after it narrowly missed a creek, nestled among raffia palms. Ninety per cent of the 32-meter long aircraft was submerged in the deep swamp not too far from the Lagos State Low Cost Housing Estate, Ejigbo to the Festac Town, located down south.
Interestingly enough, Alabosun and Mamadi were co-opted into flying the officers back to Jaji after another pilot refused to have anything to do with the aircraft again in his life.
The eagle had crashed and with it came crashing the dreams of ‘a whole generation of officers’, some of the very best of African military.
Trapped in the aircraft were several majors who were full of dreams and ambitions that in about nine months, stars would be added to their eagles and they would become the newest lieutenant-colonels in town. Since the aircraft was overcrowded, many did not have their seatbelts on and luggage all over was not properly clamped down to anything.
They were not alone. Their colleagues from the Nigerian Air Force with the ranks of a Squadron Leader were hoping to grow bigger ‘wings’ while the naval lieutenant commanders hoped to be able to command ships after their nine-month senior division course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Jaji, Kaduna State.
After all, that was the sole purpose of their travel not knowing they were going to be consumed by a rotten system where dreams are quashed even before they germinate.
THE VICTIMS
Swallowed in the belly of the C-130 were not just the military boys and girls but young students of the Nigerian Military School, NMS, Zaria, alongside civilians, relations and friends of military officers, some of whom either were accompanying their proud wards to Kaduna or those who just joined for a casual lift.
All in all, the figure of the passengers was estimated to be 200, the C-130 was clearly overloaded (although the government maintained an official figure of 159).
If the exact figure of the passengers was not clear, what was very clear is that no single soul survived the crash and till date, and it remains one of the worst military aviation disasters worldwide.
The following is a list of the victims of the C-130 air crash complete with their serial ranks and numbers alongside the corps they belonged in the Nigerian Armed Forces (or the foreign nations they represented):
1. Lieutenant-Colonel S A Onipede, N/2888, Inf
2. Lieutenant-Colonel A I Ibiyeye, N/3300, NAE
3. Lieutenant-Colonel J A Agber, N/72712, Inf
4. Lieutenant-Colonel B A Ibanga, N/3315, NAE
5. Lieutenant-Colonel J O Okafor, N/2805, NAEME
6. Lieutenant-Colonel G O Okoli, N/5402, NAE
7. Lieutenant-Colonel S K Aladesuyi, N/3259, DAPR
8. Major C D Nwabuowo, N/5587, NAMP
9. Major E Ezenwa, N/3039, NACA
10. Major M H Leramoh, N/2889, NACST
11. Major S O Yawus, N/5956, NACST
12. Major S S Agada, N/5975, NAE
13. Major E O Amechi-Okoro, N/5861, NACA
14. Major O O Mba, N/5945, NAMP
15. Major E J Onwe, N/3196, Inf
16. Major S Bature, N/6085, NACA
17. Major T Zubair, N/5465, NAE
18. Major P U Bassey, N/60018, Int
19. Major O G Akise, N/3207, NAMP
20. Major J Shija, N/3217, Inf
21. Major A B Famowei, N/5936, NACA
22. Major A A Itodo, N/6043, NAMAB
23. Major J O Okobo, N/6047, NAS
24. Major K A Oogwu, N/6058, Inf
25. Major M S Dambata, N/6063, NAMP
26. Major P S Stephen, N/3389, Inf
27. Major S O Amaga, N/6095, NAMC
28. Major C U M La’ah, N/6092, NACA
29. Major I A Abolade, N/6102, NAE
30. Major W Adaa, N/6112, NAE
31. Major E A Usibe, N/6207, NACST
32. Major J Ugo, N/3356, NAAC
33. Major S Abubakar, N/3459, NAAC
34. Major G Josiah, N/3462, Int
35. Major Aliyu, N/3471, NAFC
36. Major G Ismaila, N/3474, NAAC
37. Major M I Ukeh, N/3191, Inf
38. Major S A Jibunoh, N/6173, NAEME
39. Major I U Odache, N/3482, NACST
40. Major L E Muazu, N/6131, NACA
41. Major P O Bamidele, N/6135, NAAC
42. Major I D Nock, N/6187, NACA
43. Major D S Oyeleola, N/6188, Inf
44. Major I Nyanayo, N/6192, Int
45. Major N Obie, N/6195, NACST
46. Major R N Nwankwo, N/6197, NAE
47. Major C T Akpe, N/6208, NAOC
48. Major R Okeowo, N/6291, Int
49. Major R A Olufe, N/6292, Int
50. Major E Egoro, N/3423, NAS
51. Major A O Jegede, N/3443, NACST
52. Major A H Dombe, N/3477, NAE
53. Major P Yaro, N/3488, NACST
54. Major A Y Abbas, N/4221, Int
55. Major C O Egharevba, N/4222, NAE
56. Major F Oghebor, N/5460, NAEME
57. Major B A Anebi, N/5461, NAS
58. Major G O Oyefi, N/5467, NAPTC
59. Major I K Nwoke, N/5470, NAS
60. Major V S Kure, N/5483, NAAC
61. Major J A Tokula, N/5484, NAE
62. Major T Abina, N/5486, NAFC
63. Major B Kadiri, N/5489, NACA
64. Major C Mungu, N/5502, NACA
65. Major A N Ebiringa, N/5506, Inf
66. Major O A Ogunaike, N/6032, NACA
67. Major B B Sadiq, N/4028, NAS
68. Major S O Gbenro, N/4646, NAE
69. Major T J Adahada, N/4747, Inf
70. Major C E Ogbenjuwa, N/5102, NAE
71. Major O Babalola, N/5115, Inf
72. Major E W Ekanem, N/5474, NAMP
73.
74. Major C T Arowojolu, N/4216, NAE
75. Major M S Ogbeha, N/6242, NAS
76. Major I J Raiya, N/6244, NACA
77. Major D O Okoroji, N/6253, NAE
78. Major M A Agoyi, N/6254, NAMP
79. Major V U Mukoro, N/6265, NACA
80. Major A E Mshelia, N/6268, Int
81. Major J A Audu, N/6270, Int
82. Major S A Oisamoye, N/6328, NAEC
83. Major A Bala, N/6276, NAMC
84. Major M A D Badamasi, N/6283, NAEC
85. Major E Ukagha, N/6299, Int
86. Major K E Osula, N/4218, NAE
87. Major Kajere, N/6281, Inf
88. Major D Daranijo, N/6243, Inf
89. Major M O Ajibola, N/6263, Inf
90. Major U A M Balamai, N/6274, Inf
91. Major S Omakwu, N/5601, Int
92. Major O A Obiora, N/5604, NACA
93. Major A A Kawonta, N/5607, NACA
94. Major C Otti, N/6255, Inf
95. Major O O Olusanya, N/5549, NAS
96. Major O J Mbaka, N/6317, NAEME
97. Major P Iyayi, N/6069, NAMC
98. Major T O Ogunbiyi, N/6116, NAPTC
99. Major G N Nze, N/6348, NAMC
100. Major H Onwegunam, N/5464, NAS
101. Major M A Pindar, N/6204, Inf
102.
103. Major M Samuel, N/6246, NAE
104. O B Oshodi, Ministry of Defence Student
105. M A Abu, Student
106. Sergeant Michael Bahago, Nigerian Army Cameraman
107. Augustine Okpe, Ministry of Defence Reporter
108. Major B O Botsha, N/6179
109. Major O Adebayo, N/6393
NAVAL OFFICERS
110. Navy Commander E O Obeten, NN/646
111. Navy Commander K A Fasuka-Bello, NN/0587
112. Navy Commander S O Odusola, NN/0529
113. Navy Commander O Shiejir, NN/0645
114. Navy Commander E I Gabriel, NN/0548
115. Navy Commander A O Ojekunle, NN/0619
116. Navy Commander K O Igwara, NN/0639
117. Navy Commander A O G Aboruwa, NN/0639
118. Navy Commander S Lasisi, NN/526
119. Navy Commander A A Amaino, NN/467
120. Navy Commander E N Okafor, NN/0556
121. Navy Commander P Asoro, NN/0518
122. Navy Commander P N Amangbo, NN/0453
123. Navy Commander O O Onabolu, NN/0455
124. Navy Commander J O Omokhuale, NN/0509
125. Navy Commander C O Ochigbono, NN/0481
AIR FORCE OFFICERS
126. Squadron Leader Ekong Okon Effiong, NAF/809
127. Squadron Leader John Husaina Tela, NAF/906
128. Squadron Leader K Odubanjo, NAF/930
129. Squadron Leader F O Akede, NAF/920
130. Squadron Leader Habu Saidu, NAF/782
131. Squadron Leader A Duson, NAF/1071
132. Squadron Leader T A Clement, NAF/903
133. Squadron Leader R O Yusuf, NAF/822
134. Squadron Leader S O Oyerinde, NAF/807
135. Squadron Leader N O Alege, NAF/931
136. Squadron Leader M T Njida, NAF/816
137. Squadron Leader J K Osho, NAF/767
138. Squadron Leader E O Ikwue, NAF 793
139. Squadron Leader M M Gumel, NAF/907
140. Squadron Leader A A Ndule, NAF/923
141. Squadron Leader E J Ekpong, NAF/924
142. Squadron Leader A O Atteh, NAF/928
143. Sergeant O Jaja, Air Force Video Cameraman
GHANAIAN ARMY
144. Major A B Ibrahim, GH/1901
145. Major M K Okwabai, GH/2193
146. Lieutenant Commodore N N Amevor, GH/1924
147. Squadron Leader S S Sackey, GH/1847
148. Squadron Leader J M K Mensah, GH/1635
TANZANIAN ARMY
149. Major M S Mgonja, P/6234
ZIMBABWEAN ARMY
150. Major K Mnalazi, T8338T
UGANDAN ARMY
151. Major J R Muteizi, RO/1326
NIGERIAN AIR FORCE CREW
152. Wing Commander J P Alabosun
153. Wing Commander A S Mamadi
154. Squadron Leader J A Asetza
155. Flight Lieutenant S O Adamu
156. Warrant Officer Alum Wakala
157. Flight Sergeant Tarfa Saidu
158. Warrant Officer W I Datong
159. Sergeant A Soyemi
It was devastating.
The crash wiped off many fine and brilliant officers. Officers of the 19, 20, 21 and 22 Regular Courses of the Nigerian Defence Academy were badly hit. A list of 159 names of those officially listed as passengers of the C-130H was released on the 1st of October by the Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Fred Chijuka. The list was made up of seven Lieutenant Colonels, 96 Majors, a Sergeant, Michael Bahago, two students – Mr. O B Oshodi, Mrs. M A Abu, and a reporter, Mr. Augustine Okpe. There were also the eight-officer crew including Alaboson, Mamadi, Squadron Leader J A Adeiza and Flight Lieutenant S O Adamu. The other men, Alum Wakala, Tarfa Saidu, W T Datong and A Soyemi in addition to 19 Air Force officers, made up of 18 Squadron Leaders and a Sergeant, O. Jaja.
The Nigerian Navy lost 16 Lieutenant Commanders, Ghanaian Armed Forces, five – Major A B Ibrahim, Major M K Okwabi, Lieutenant Commander N N Amevor, Squadron Leader S S Sackey and Squadron Leader J M K Mensah. Tanzania lost Major M S Mgonja while Ugandan Major J R Mulazi also lost his life in the crash. For the Nigerian Army, the records were also not looking nice at all. The Nigerian Army Education Corps lost a total of 19 officers, Infantry 17, Artillery 15, Intelligence nine, Signals nine, Supply and Transport eight, Military Police seven while the Electrical and Mechanical Armoured and Medical Corps lost four officers each. Others included Ordance three while Finance and Personnel and Training lost two each.
According to Colonel Chijuka, the list was not even exhaustive. He said:
‘These are the people we have on our record that flew in the aircraft. The number could be higher as colleagues, students of the Nigerian Military School, Zaria and their (officers) spouses travelled with them. This is what we hope the Air Force will be able to sort out.’
Unconfirmed sources at Jaji that time put the death toll between 200 and 300 saying that included many officers recently transferred from Jaji, Zaria or Kaduna but who still had to go back to collect their salaries as payment in their new areas have not been formalized. Many other civilians who regularly enjoyed free rides with their military friends were also believed to have been trapped in the disaster.
THE AFTERMATH
Back at the Command and Staff College, CSC, in Jaji, the news of the crash was broken to the Commandant, Major-General Joshua Nimyel Dogonyaro the next day, the 27th of September.
He broke down in tears and sobbed.
When his colleagues told him to take some sleeping tablets, he refused and instead quickly summoned top officers and assigned them various responsibilities of leaving immediately for Lagos to get first-hand information of the disaster.
Ever since Dogonyaro (who later dismissed all allegations of deliberate sabotage of the aircraft especially via fuel contamination) dished out his instructions, the ever-busy Officers Mess at the CSC became a ghost town, emptied of its vibrant atmosphere. The Danjuma Hall was as quiet as a cemetery while the 150 cars purchased for the dead officers from the N500 million loan given to military officers simply waited for owners who would never return. It was a very dark day for all of Jaji.
On Monday, the 28th of September, the women whose husbands were on course at Jaji besieged the school.
Many of them who learnt that they husbands were still in Lagos broke down into uncontrollable tears. The officers struggled to calm them:
‘Be calm. Your husbands are alive. We have not confirmed who was in the plane. They are only in Lagos.’
But the more the officers tried to calm them, the louder the wailings grew.
THE RESCUE AND ITS CHALLENGES
This is probably the most heart-breaking chapter of the story.
The tardiness with which the rescue attempts were handled was most irritating.
The top military commanders who were supposed to coordinate the whole rescue efforts did not even know anything had gone wrong until hours later.
They were busy wining and dining at the Ikeja Cantonment celebrating the end of the annual Nigerian Army Squash Tournament attended by the Commander of the Lagos Garrison and the Air Force Base Commander.
As the top-ranking officers were having a nice time with their merriment, an entire generation of their colleagues was trapped a few miles away.
A C-130H is a very large aicraft, about ten times stronger than a conventional passenger plane and it crashed at around 5:29 pm when it was already starting to get dark. Group Captain John Ojikutu, the Airport Commandant was prompt with his response, he quickly organized an ad-hoc search team made up of a pilot, two engineers and an air traffic controller. But the team could not do anything as there was no functional helicopter from the NAF to convey them.
It was until a private airline, Aero Contractors, provided them with one but the team got late to the scene, they arrived the scene of the disaster 40 minutes after the crash. But when they even eventually got to the scene, they could not provide an immediate rescue operation and the officers would remain trapped in the aircraft wreckage until about 16 hours later when the first co**se was eventually lifted from the site.
The government and NAF shifted the blame on the harsh swampy terrain where the plane had crashed saying it was impossible to reach the aircraft by land immediately after it crashed.
AVM Akin Dada himself confessed that he did not get information on the crash until 6:05 pm and that he ‘contacted all necessary agencies.’ It was a day of disgrace for the Nigerian Air Force. Even though it had six large Puma helicopters for search and rescue, not one was okay, they were all scrap material.
They later managed to get a NAF BO-105 helicopter to use. Nigeria simply did not have the machinery or system to initiate, conduct or coordinate such a sophisticated rescue operation. The system was total crap.
Although the Nigerian Civil Aviation Policy of 1989 provided for a National Search and Rescue Organization (NSRO), made up of the Navy, Air Force, Army, Police and other relevant agencies, the body was not functional in the country, it existed only on paper.
That explains why despite the good visibility after locating the aircraft, the rescue operation came too slow and too late.
The Nigerian system could not save its brightest military minds. There were lamentations over the matter:
‘If there had been an efficient NSRO, it would have been able to pierce the fuselage and retrieve the bodies much more quickly. What if this was in a war situation, does it mean we won’t be able to pe*****te the swamp immediately? Shouldn’t the military have a survey of all the Lagos environs to understand the terrain?’
There was also a shortage of Air Traffic Controllers and around the time of the crash, they were even on strike over demand for improved facilities at the country’s airports in addition to compelling the FCAA to hire more ATCs.
They complained that the Murtala Muhammed International Airport needed around 90 ATCs but had just 21.
A situation report on air traffic operations released on the 28th of October, 1991, about a year before the crash highlighted by the Nigeria Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) the lack of ATCs, poor state or total lack of equipment for communication, navigation and surveillance as factors that militated against a safe air navigation system for the country.
The aircraft was one of the first in the Air-force fleet and it was reportedly long overdue for major repairs and overhaul at the Lockheed Corporation in the United States.
When the NAF 911 crashed, Lockheed Corporation was enraged and furious with the Nigerian authorities.
It was reportedly the first of such crash in 25 years of the C-130H.
Lockheed insisted on getting the black box as soon as it was found.
The corporation also demanded a high-powered probe into the cause of a crash of such magnitude.
For the investigation, the Nigerian government set up a board of inquiry in early October 1992.
The board was made up of service chiefs and aviation experts.
As at the time of the crash and even of now, the aircraft is considered very dependable and reliable as a military transport aircraft used worldwide.
At the time of the disaster, Nigeria had six C-130H and three C-130 H30, a model with little variations, Egypt had 19, Algeria had 14, Morocco had 11, the Libyan Air Force had seven, same number with the South Africans while Sudan and Cameroon had five and three respectively.
Designed to have a maximum payload of 21 tonnes (21,000 kg), the C-130 H has a troop-paratroop capacity of 150 men and can cover a maximum range of 1,850 kilometers while it can cover even more if the loads are less. The crash revealed the utter helplessness of the rot called the Nigerian Air Force as it could do nothing to pull out its aircraft.
The Governor of Lagos State, the late Sir Michael Otedola had to call on Julius Berger to assist with pulling out the aircraft.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY IS A MEDIALORDS PRODUCTION
