A Nigerian Air Force officer has lost his life in a plane crash barely two weeks after celebrating his marriage, leaving family, colleagues and well wishers in deep mourning.

Squadron Leader Ahamefule Aham Man Ugwueje served as co pilot aboard the Nigerian Air Force ATR 42 aircraft registered as NAF 931. The aircraft went down on Monday, 5 October 2026, near Igbokoda in Ondo State while on a routine flight from Benin to Lagos. All twenty five people on board, comprising five crew members and twenty passengers, perished in the incident.

Man Ugwueje had married Flight Lieutenant Damilola Adekunle on 19 September 2026 in an elaborate ceremony held in Abuja. The holy matrimony took place at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, The Masters Place, located on Solomon Lar Way in Utako. The reception followed later that afternoon at the Nigerian Army Conference Centre in Asokoro.

The officer, whose hometown is listed as Umuahia in Abia State, was among the five crew members whose names the Nigerian Air Force released the day after the crash. News of his death, coming so soon after the joyful wedding celebrations, has drawn widespread expressions of sympathy across the country.