Nigeria loses first female combat helicopter pilot, Tolulope Arotile

Tolulope Arotile, the celebrated Nigerian Air Force’s first female combat helicopter pilot, has died in a road accident at NAF Base Kaduna.

The Nigerian Air Force said Arotile, died on Tuesday as a result of head injuries sustained from the accident.‬

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Air force spokesman, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola in a statement late Tuesday night said 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.

He said ‬during her short but impactful stay in the Service, late Arotile, who hails 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.

He said 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.