Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday declared three days of national mourning for those who lost their lives in an ill-fated commercial airplane crash in southwestern Lagos State, according to a statement from his office.

The Dana Air flight from Abuja to Lagos crashed a few km to the airport with over 150 people on board, according to aviation authorities.

The president has cancelled all his public engagements scheduled for Monday and had also directed that the Nigerian flag be flown at half-mast for the three days of national mourning, the statement disclosed.

The president has also ordered the fullest possible investigation into the crash.

In compliance with the president's directive, Nigeria's Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah has already left Abuja for Lagos to oversee the crash investigations and present an interim report as quickly as possible, the statement added.

"I join all Nigerians in mourning all those who lost their lives in the plane crash which has sadly plunged the nation into further sorrow on a day when Nigerians were already in grief over the loss of many other innocent lives in the church bombing in northern Bauchi State," the president said.

He also assured air travellers in the West African country that every possible effort will be made to ensure that the right lessons are learnt from the tragic loss of valuable lives in Sunday's plane crash and that further measures will be put in place to boost aviation safety in the country.

The Dana Air plane, which reportedly took off from Nigeria's capital city Abuja, crashed in a residential area in the Lagos metropolis, barely 24 hours after a Nigerian Allied Cargo airplane (also from Lagos) crash-landed in Ghana, killing at least 10 people.