Sad news! Nigeria loses 23yr old female pilot, Tolulope

THE Nigerian Air Force (NAF) today announced the painful demise of a Flying officer, Tolulope Arotile who died on Tuesday 14 July in a road accident at the age of 23.

The young Flying Officer, died eight months after she was commissioned as Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot.

Arotile was commissioned along with 12 others, including Kafayat Sanni, the country’s first female fighter pilot on October 2019.

A statement signed by Air Force spokesman, Ibikunle Daramola, stated that NAF was saddened by the untimely death of its officer and would miss the young pilot who was cultured and related with her colleagues with utmost respect while alive.

“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,” the statement read.

“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 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 reads.