Thousands of Nigerian Muslims gathered to mourn today at the palace of their traditional ruler, the Sultan of Sokoto, who died in a plane crash on Sunday along with 95 others.
In the capital Abuja, where the Boeing 737 operated by domestic carrier ADC crashed shortly after takeoff, the government grounded the airline and said the pilot had ignored a bad weather warning from the air traffic control tower.
Aviation Minister Babalola Borishade told a news conference nine survivors were being treated at the National Hospital and 96 bodies had been recovered from the crash site, a cornfield just a stone's throw away from the airport runway.
President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has declared three days of national mourning for the victims, was due to travel to the northern city of Sokoto, where the flight was bound.
The city was silent today, with all shops and market stalls deserted as residents gathered at the sultan's palace or at mosques to pray and mourn.
Maccido was a respected figure who helped quell several bouts of religious violence in central and northern Nigeria. Africa's most populous country is split about evenly between a predominantly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south.
There was widespread anger over the crash, which was the third major aviation disaster in Nigeria in just over a year.
Information Minister Frank Nweke defended the government's record, saying it had been working hard to improve safety after a plane operated by Nigerian carrier Bellview crashed near Lagos on Oct. 22 last year, killing 117 people.
The aviation minister said the government has suspended ADC's licence as yesterday's crash showed the airline had not internalised best practice on safety.