Update: Two Nigerian Professors were aboard the ill-fated Ethiopian airliner that crashed today.

Two Nigerians have now been confirmed to be among the 157 passengers and crew who died in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi that crashed today March 10th.

They are Professor Pius Adesanmi, who was carrying a Canadian passport. The popular columnist and activist teaches at Carlton University in Canada, while the second person is Ambassador Abiodun Bashua of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was carrying a UN passport.The late Bashua was former UN and AU Deputy Joint Special Representative in Darfur, Sudan.

A really really tragic day. Rest In Peace Prof @pius_adesanmi . I was hoping against everything that this wouldn’t be true. This is a bad day. A bad day for Nigeria. A really bad one for Africa. We have lost an irreplaceable gem. Thank you for sharing yourself with us Prof. pic.twitter.com/wNA8lbFlNE

— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) March 10, 2019

The world has lost a fine intellectual, one of a rare breed of thinkers and good governance advocate. It’s confirmed, people, we lost Professor Pius Adesanmi in that Ethiopian Airlines crash. ? pic.twitter.com/J68sgftB1b

— Gimba Kakanda (@gimbakakanda) March 10, 2019

Nigerian-born Canadian-based Professor Pius Adesanmi was among the 157 passengers who perished in the Ethiopian Airline that crashed in the early hours of Sunday, March 10th, 2010

The Boeing 737 air plane had lost contact with the control room some minutes after take off. pic.twitter.com/suLofWdR4Y

— Philip Obin (@PhilipObin) March 10, 2019