This Day in History: October 1, 1992
Nigeria's thirty-second independence anniversary celebration was called off at the last minute by General Ibrahim Babangida's military government as result of an air disaster, involving a Nigerian Air Force transport aircraft, in which over 160 military officers were killed. The Hercules C-130 crashed in Ejigbo, Lagos. The plane was said to have broken into two after crashing into some palm trees before sinking into the Ejigbo swamp. Instead of a national celebration, the nation was thrown into national mourning. The cancellation of the celebrations was done in honour of those who had died in the crash and to give Nigerians the opportunity to mourn them.