Amidst all the intricacies and collisions happening between the military and politics in the early 90’s and especially in 1992, a tragedy befell Nigeria and particularly the families and friends of about 151 military officers and civilians who perished on a Hercules C-130 flight. The flight, which was meant to ferry mid level officers from the airport in Ikeja to Kaduna, crashed just about 3 minutes into lift-off.
Some of the officers from NDA Regular Course 22 who missed the flight had originally been scheduled to take a Senior Course 15 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Jaji, Kaduna They withdrew in the last minute when they expressed their preference to do the course with their own mates in the next around. Others who missed were within the bracket of the 19th, 20th, and 21st courses, and were tied up with military postings. In fact, a lot of the officers who were supposed to be on the flight did not board eventually because they left the airport after hanging around for days waiting for the flight.
And so it happened that on the evening of Saturday, September 26, 1992, at about 5 PM, the military aircraft, which was piloted by Wing Commanders J.P. Alabesunu and A.S. Mamadi finally got clearance from the control tower to take off.
Reports have it that one of the aircraft’s four engines failed immediately after takeoff. Then, a second engine failed shortly afterward as the pilot struggled to return to the airport. In the ensuing microseconds of crucial decision making, the crew tried to maneuver to ditch the fully-laden plane into the Ejigbo Canal for softer impact, but then; the third engine failed and it all went dark for both crew and passengers. The Hercules crashed nose down into a tropical mangrove swamp with one of the wings and the tail broken off.
While there are also conflicting claims that there were 163, 174, or 200 on board, there was no manifest for the flight to clearly ascertain this except the casualty count, which was estimated at 151 persons. The casualty list had a total of 151 involving 7 Lt. Colonels, 96 Majors, 1 Sergeant, 3 civilian staff, 26 Air Force, and 17 Navy officers died on the crash. Additionally, 5 Ghanaians, 1 Tanzanian, 1 Zimbabwean, and 1 Ugandan military officer died in the mishap.
Ideally, the Hercules C-130 had the capacity to carry up to 92 combat troops or 64 fully equipped paratroopers and can haul 20.4 tonnes of cargo. So, the C-130 airplane most likely did not crash because it had so many passengers on it.
In a period where conspiracy theories were rife, it was difficult not to point at a possible complicity of military top brass in the death of the 151 mid level officers. If at all a case could not be made for any reason the military leadership would want to wipe out junior officers, the lackadaisical attitude and the slow response to the rescue mission by then Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Sani Abacha and other commanders on the ground saddled with intelligence and military welfare revealed their indifference about the death of their colleagues.
To quote Remi Oyeyemi, “It is on record that less than an hour of the crash, the British government offered to rescue the victims, and the offer was turned down by IBB. It is also on record that the U.S. government informed the IBB administration that they had a ship on the high seas very close to Nigeria that could be on the scene within a few hours of the crash to help in the rescue effort. It was turned down by IBB.”
Thirty three years after one of the deadliest air crashes in Nigeria’s history, no official report of the incident has been published. Even the widows of the officers involved in the crash were never really given all the benefits promised them. It took the Oputa Panel to compel the Ministry of Defense before some of the promises of death benefits were fulfilled.
The Hercules C-130 may not just have fallen out of the sky for natural causes or a motive to kill a group of promising military officers, but the administrative incompetence which characterizes many of the disaster response moves in the nation may have led to the death of the 151 persons in that ill-fated flight.
Former Military President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has denied involvement in the 1992 C-130 military plane crash.
IBB made the denial in his personal memoir “A JOURNEY IN SERVICE” he presented to the public in Abuja.
“Mischief makers and rumour mongers were colouring the public perception of this accident. Some speculated that regime opponents in the armed forces had sabotaged the aircraft to vent their anger in the direction of the administration.
A more wicked version of the rumour was that the administration had somehow plotted to assemble these officers in one consignment for elimination for fear that they might be planning a coup against the military administration’s leadership based on the failed Gideon Orkar coup that had taken place earlier.
It was, however, an indication of the level of decay to which our public perception and discourse had descended. Political opponents weaponised tragedies against my administration. ” Babangida wrote.
Most of those who died were bread winners of their families.Some of them had very bright career prospects ahead. It was during the military era, and nothing could have stopped a few of them from becoming military administrators or board members of choice government agencies, but death ended all that.
See comment section for the names and ranks of the victims. Number 52, Major I K Nwuke was from my Local Government in Rivers State. His father was a regional minister in the old eastern region.
May their souls continue to rest in peace.
Nollywood actress Destiny Etiko has revealed that she lost ₦5 million after placing a bet during the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, saying the experience has discouraged her from gambling again.
The actress disclosed this in a post shared on her Instagram handle on Monday, shortly after the conclusion of the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina.
“First time betting and I lost . Will never try it again. My 5M gone . In fact am done watching football. Anxiety almost killed me,” she wrote.
Etiko, however, did not disclose the particular bet she placed or provide further details about how she lost the money.
Earlier, during the World Cup final, the actress shared a series of updates on her Instagram Story, indicating she was backing Argentina to defeat Spain.
In one post, she wrote, “Argentina all the way. Who can’t wait?”
As the match progressed, she appeared increasingly frustrated with Argentina’s performance, posting, “This ball tough o. Argentina is pissing me off.”
She also praised Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez for keeping the defending champions in the game, writing, “The goal keeper is the savior oo.”
PUNCH Online had reported that Spain defeated defending champions Argentina 1-0 after extra time to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Sunday.
Substitute Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal in the second period of extra time to hand Spain their second World Cup title, 16 years after their maiden triumph in South Africa in 2010.
Argentina played the closing stages with 10 men after midfielder Enzo Fernández was sent off for a second bookable offence, while Spain dominated possession before eventually finding the breakthrough through Torres.
The self-styled Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, was arrested last Tuesday by the Intelligence Response Team led by Chief Superintendent of Police, Moses Lohor.
It was learnt that Adeyemi was arrested between 11am and 12pm inside a building in the Ijebu-Ijesa area of Osun State.
The suspect’s arrest followed a bench warrant issued against him by a Federal High Court in Abuja after he allegedly failed to appear for arraignment on eight counts.
Giving details of the operation that led to the arrest, a senior police officer in the Osun State Police Command, in an interview with Punch, said Adeyemi’s location was first uncovered in the Aregbe-Fakule area of Osogbo on July 9 after evading tracking by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The police officer said Lohor’s team took over the tracking after the DSS withdrew from the case.
He added that the operatives eventually located Adeyemi in Ilesa and subsequently arrested him on Tuesday morning.
The source said, “The Moses Lohor team were in Osun for surveillance ahead of the August 15 governorship election. They were mapping hotspots and collating other intelligence. As a matter of fact, the Lohor team didn’t report to the Osun State Police Command. They operated from the area commander’s office at Oke-Fia in Osogbo.
“Adeyemi was already on their watch list, but they didn’t act because the case was being handled by the DSS. Adeyemi’s last known location tracked by the DSS was Ibadan, but they couldn’t apprehend him because he regularly switched off his phone.
“A senior police officer from Abuja informed the Lohor team about the DSS withdrawal on Wednesday. Lohor’s team then decided to track Adeyemi’s location on Thursday, July 9. Incidentally, he was located around the Aregbe-Fakule area of Osogbo.
“Luckily for them, late on Monday night, Adeyemi’s location showed he was around Ilesa, and the Lohor team intensified efforts, which led to his arrest on Tuesday morning. The team only informed the Osun State Commissioner of Police when they moved in to make the arrest.”
Adeyemi is reportedly being detained at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, from where he is expected to be arraigned on July 27.
Popular Nollywood actress in the Yoruba movie industry, Biola Fowosere, has opened up about the challenges she faced after her ex-husband left their marriage.
It was reports that Biola, during an interview on African A List, said her ex-husband abandoned her and their children despite not doing anything wrong in the union.
The thespian who broke down in tears during the interview said her ex-husband is the only person she would like to ask why he abandoned his family.
Biola also spoke about battling severe depression after the separation, spending one year and six months in the hospital while struggling to recover emotionally.
According to the movie star, she almost lost her sanity, adding that it has been seven years since they lost contact.
She said, “The only person I’d really want to ask a question is my ex-husband. I’d really like to ask him what I did wrong because I did nothing before he left me and the kids. I want to ask what my children and I did to deserve what he did to us,” she said.
“I spent one year and six months in the hospital battling depression after he left. I almost ran mad. We are not in contact. Since he left, we haven’t seen him. He blocked us seven years ago.”
