The residents of Igbokoda, the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, have raised alarm following the pollution of the source of water for the community by decaying bodies of the victims of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) plane that crashed there last week.
Penpushing reports that the river where the plane crashed into is what supplies drinking water to the community, while as at the time of filing this report, resident expressed fear that, pollution is already in the river, either as a result of decayed bodies
The traditional ruler of the community, Afolabi Odidiomo, on Tuesday said the body of water has been polluted, leaving the people with contaminated water both for drinking and other domestic uses.
“This same river where the plane crashed into is what supplies our drinking water. We have a water treatment machine at Aboto about seven kilometres away from here. The water doesn’t come every day, and when it comes, it is this same water that flows there, pumped to be treated for our drinking. So, it means whatever happens, pollution is already in the river, either as a result of decayed bodies or as oil that dropped into the river’.
Penpushing further reports that he said the crash destroyed economic trees and fish, which are the community’s source of livelihood emphasizing that the water has been polluted, leaving the people with contaminated water both for drinking and other domestic uses.
“The concern of everybody in this community today is that our government spent time, energy, money, and effort looking for people that had been chopped into pieces by the crash. The pieces that are floating everywhere in our rivers. The pieces that have decayed left so much stench that is unbelievable.
“Going close to the river is so scary now for children who usually go to swim when they return from school, because they see human flesh everywhere as they swim. Fish are also dying everywhere. So, the river that used to be friendly with children has become scary, as we wonder why the government cares so much for the dead rather than the living’.
“This same river where the plane crashed into is what supplies our drinking water. We have a water treatment machine at Aboto about seven kilometres away from here. The water doesn’t come every day, and when it comes, it is this same water that flows there, pumped to be treated for our drinking.
“So, it means whatever happens, pollution is already in the river, either as a result of decayed bodies or as oil that dropped into the river, and any other pollution that went into the water thereof.”
Penpushing also reports that the monarch, however, called for immediate clean-up of the water in order to prevent a worse disaster in the form of an epidemic due to the polluted water.
The royal father said the lack of a plan to protect the people from the inherent pollution was unfair to the people, as the government could have cordoned off the area so that the polluted water could be kept back from flowing into the main river, noting that besides the pollution, the crash also destroyed economic trees and fish, which are the community’s source of livelihood.
“We are asking the government for cleanup. We are asking the government for remediation, a kind of restoration of the environment. The restoration now does not mean that we want the trees planted back, but we want the government to still do something in memory of those that died just as we have in Lagos and Ogun states,” he said.
Penpushing reports that Odidiomo, pointed out that efforts should be made, in addition to cleaning up the water, to also provide an alternative source of clean drinking water.
The resident of Igbokoda and a 100 Level student of Civil Engineering at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Benjamin Omoyele, said the water pollution arising from the crash is a genuine concern that the people expect the government to look into urgently.
Penpushing further reports that Omoyele stated that the body parts still left in the water are creating health concerns and contamination in the water, which might affect residents who depend largely on it.
The rescuers have indicated that working on the site at the moment is hazardous as the area stinks badly of decayed human flesh littering the water, however, excavations are ongoing at the site with more machinery being deployed to assist in the removal of the remaining parts of the aircraft.
Penpushing also reports that the search for the black box is the new focus of the operation as directed by the Chief of Air Staff, Sunday Aneke, during his visit to the site last week, however, Odunsola Dada, popularly called General at Igbokoda, said he believed that since the water is deep and keeps flowing down into the ocean, it would clean itself with time and did not see any present danger to the community.
“We are all humans, and what happened is a tragedy. We will all also die at our time. The water is deep and flowing steadily. It is not a well or a pool. It is a flowing river. In a short while everything will flow into the sea and people will be able to use it as before,” he said.
Penpushing reports that it would be recalled that the plane crashed into the swamp in the area on Monday, October 5, 2026, killing the 25 people on board, while efforts by divers and rescue teams to retrieve the wreckage of the plane and the bodies of the victims have been largely unsuccessful because of the terrain.
The search and rescue efforts deployed by a combined team of Nigerian Airforce (NAF), Nigerian Navy, Police, Igbokoda community and Ondo state government about a week ago have only succeeded in retrieving pieces of human body parts as well as the broken parts of the airplane.
Penpushing further reports that officials confirmed that the main body of the airplane is yet to be located, as it is suspected to be deeply submerged in the underlay of the swamp where the crash occurred.
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