How Ex-Classmate Killed Tolulope Arotile, NAF 1st Female Combat Pilot

Ex-Classmate killed Tolulope Arotile, the NAF 1st female combat pilot, NewsOne Nigeria understands.

According to the Nigeria Air Force (NAF), Tolulope Arotile, Nigeria’s First female combat helicopter pilot, was hit by her former classmate’s car.

NewsOne Nigeria reports that First Nigeria Air Force female combat pilot, Tolulope Arotile is dead. She died at age 23.

Tolulope Arotile death was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday night by the Director of Public Relations and Information Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola.

According to the statement, Arotile, who was a Flying Officer until her death, was killed in an accident at the Nigerian Air Force base in Kaduna state, northern Nigeria. Tolulope Arotile died as a result of head injuries she sustained from the accident.

This statement read, “It is with great sorrow that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) regretfully announces the unfortunate demise of Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, who died today, 14 July 2020, as a result of head injuries sustained from a road traffic accident at NAF Base Kaduna.‬

“Until her death, ‪Flying Officer Arotile, who was commissioned into the NAF in September 2017 as a member of Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 64, was the first ever female combat helicopter pilot in the Service.‬ During her short but impactful stay in the Service, late Arotile, who hailed from Iffe in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, contributed significantly to the efforts to rid the North Central States of armed bandits and other criminal elements by flying several combat missions under Operation GAMA AIKI in Minna, Niger State.

“The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, on behalf of officers, airmen, airwomen and civilian staff of the NAF, commiserates with the family of late ‪Flying Officer Arotile‬ over this irreparable loss. We pray that the Almighty God grants her soul eternal rest,” the statement read.

However, on Wednesday, Air Com. Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, said in a statement that the unnamed ex-classmate was reportedly reversing the car when it hit Arotile who fell and hit her head on the tarmac.

The statement said Arotile who joined the NAF out of passion for the job, died while receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.

“Flying Officer Arotile died on July 14, 2020, at the age of 24, when she was inadvertently hit by the reversing vehicle of an excited former Air Force Secondary School classmate while trying to greet her.

“Before her untimely death, Flying Officer Arotile made significant and outstanding contributions to the war against terrorism, armed banditry and other forms of criminality in the country, flying several combat missions,” the spokesman said.

Eight months ago, late Tolulope Arotile, was decorated by Sadique Abubakar, chief of air staff, the first female helicopter pilot in the history of the Nigerian Air Force, after she had just ended a programme at the Starlite International Training Academy, South Africa.

While decorating Tolulope Arotile alongside Kafayat Sanni, the first female fighter pilot, Abubakar had said: “They are not only female officers but outstanding aviators. While one of the two pilots is the first female fighter pilot in the 55 years history of the NAF, the second one is the first female combatant helicopter pilot.”