The first female combat helicopter pilot of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Tolulope Arotile has died in a road accident.
The NAF stated this in a press statement, saying she died on Tuesday.
Arotile sustained head injuries from the road accident which occurred at the NAF base in Kaduna.
She died less than a year after she was decorated as the first female combatant helicopter pilot last August.
Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar according to the statement described her death as an “irreparable loss”.
“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,” the NAF said.
“During her short but impactful stay in the Service, the late Arotile 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.
“We pray that the Almighty God grants her soul eternal rest.”
Arotile, a native of Iffe in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, recently completed a programme at the Starlite International Training Academy, South Africa.
She graduated as the best flight student from the NAF in 2017.
