Military Plane Crash: Traditional ruler cries out as decaying bodies ‘pollute’ community’s source of drinking water

A humanitarian crisis may hit Igbokoda, the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, 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.

The traditional ruler of the community, Afolabi Odidiomo, told PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday that the body of water has been polluted, leaving the people with contaminated water both for drinking and other domestic uses.

He also said the crash destroyed economic trees and fish, which are the community’s source of livelihood.

The NAF plane crashed into the swamp in the area on Monday, 5 October, killing the 25 people on board.

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 NAF, the Nigerian Navy, the police, the Igbokoda community and the 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.

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.

Water pollution concern

However, concerns have shifted from the initial shock following the crash to fresh fears of water pollution.

The body of water where the crash occurred is the same source of water for the Igbokoda community.

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.

The traditional ruler of Igbokoda, Mr Odidiomo, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES at his palace on Tuesday, said 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.”

The traditional ruler 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.

He 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.

Mr Odidiomo said 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.

He also said efforts should be made, in addition to cleaning up the water, to also provide an alternative source of clean drinking water.

Also speaking on the pollution, Benjamin Omoyele, a resident of Igbokoda and a 100 Level student of Civil Engineering at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), said the water pollution arising from the crash is a genuine concern that the people expect the government to look into urgently.

According to him, 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.

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.

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Mr Dada said the water would clean itself with time and that he 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.

Meanwhile, excavations are ongoing at the site with more machinery being deployed to assist in the removal of the remaining parts of the aircraft.

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.