Two persons are in the custody of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) over the death of Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, the NAF has said.
NAF Director of Public Relations and Information Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola told The Punch on Friday that the public would be informed at the end of investigation, adding that it may go “beyond the NAF”.
He said: “First of all, in my first statement, I said she died from a road traffic accident. I further clarified the nature of the road traffic accident where one of her excited classmates who saw her reversed his car which led to him hitting her and knocking her down. This led to head injuries and a lot of haemorrhaging which ultimately resulted in her death.
“The two boys are in custody and the NAF will do a thorough investigation into the matter. It is a routine process – our own processes that are ongoing because it happened inside a NAF base. At the appropriate time, whatever information needs to go out will go out. But we cannot pre-empt that investigation process.”
The NAF had said that Arotile, Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, died at the NAF base in Kaduna State from head injuries after being hit by the car of a former classmate who was reversing to exchange pleasantries with her
It had initially suggested that the driver of the vehicle was a female.
A member of the Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 64, Arotile hailed from Iffe in the Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, and contributed to the efforts to rid the north-central states of bandits and other criminal elements by flying combat missions.
Her family and several others have called for a probe on her untimely death.
