Senate postpones security summit in honour of plane crash victims

The Senate has postponed indefinitely its two-day national security summit scheduled for 12 and 13 October to honour the officers and crew members who died in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft crash in Ondo State.

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, announced the postponement in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Bamidele, who chairs the Senate Ad hoc Committee on the National Security Summit, said the decision was necessary to honour the victims of the crash.

He said a new date for the summit would be communicated to stakeholders in due course.

The upper chamber had announced on 29 September that it would a two-day summit of strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture.

A Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft crashed in the Igbokoda area of Ondo State on Monday.

The NAF said in a statement on Tuesday that 20 passengers and five crew members were killed in the crash.

The casualty figure differs from the 32, which government officials initially said were on board the aircraft on Monday.

President Bola Tinubu subsequently declared three days of national mourning in honour of the deceased personnel and directed that national flags be flown at half-mast across the country.

The Senate had planned the security summit to examine Nigeria’s persistent security challenges and develop practical measures to address threats to lives and property across the country.

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Nigeria continues to face multiple security challenges, including terrorism and insurgency in the North-east, banditry and kidnapping in the North-west and North-central, as well as communal conflicts and other forms of violent crime in different parts of the country.

The security situation has remained a major concern for the National Assembly, with lawmakers frequently calling on the executive to strengthen security agencies, improve intelligence gathering and address factors contributing to insecurity.

The Senate said a new date for the national security summit would be communicated to stakeholders in due course.