A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) officer, Flight Lieutenant Damilola Adekunle, has lost her husband in a military aircraft crash 20 years after her father was killed in another NAF air disaster.
Adekunle’s husband, Squadron Leader Ahamefule Aham Man-Ugwueje, was among 25 people killed when a NAF ATR-42 aircraft crashed in the Igbokoda area of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State on Monday.
The couple had been married for only 16 days before the crash.
Man-Ugwueje, a NAF co-pilot, was among five crew members and 20 passengers aboard NAF 931, which was on a routine mission from Benin to Lagos. There were no survivors.
Adekunle’s father, Wing Commander E.O. Adekunle, was one of 13 military officers killed when a NAF Dornier 228 crashed in Vandeikya, Benue State, on September 17, 2006.
The aircraft was travelling from Abuja to Obudu in Cross River State with senior military officers who were heading to a retreat. Wing Commander Adekunle was one of the two crew members on board.
The crash claimed the lives of 10 army generals, a lieutenant-colonel and two wing commanders.
Two decades later, his daughter followed his career path by joining the Air Force and rising to the rank of flight lieutenant.
She married Man-Ugwueje, also a NAF officer, in Abuja on September 19, 2026, but lost him less than three weeks later in another military aircraft accident.
Man-Ugwueje was the son of a retired NAF Group Captain and had risen to the rank of squadron leader before his death.
The two families were therefore linked to the Air Force through successive generations, with Adekunle’s family now facing its second fatal NAF aircraft crash in two decades.
The Air Force has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding Monday’s crash and expressed condolences to the families of the 25 victims.
It also pledged support to the bereaved families as investigations continue.
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