Nigeria’s first-ever female combat pilot is dead [PHOTOS]

Tolulope Arotile, Nigeria’s first female Air Force pilot has died in a road accident that occurred at the NAF Base in Kaduna, on Tuesday, in which she sustained head injuries, TopNaija reports.

In a NAF press statement, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, describes Arotile’s death as an “irreparable loss”.

Arotile, who hailed from Iffe in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, recently completed a programme at the Starlite International Training Academy, South Africa.

She died less than a year after she was decorated as the first female combatant helicopter pilot.

The statement read, “It is with great sorrow that the Nigerian Air Force 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, 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.

“The Chief of 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 grant her soul eternal rest.”

“We pray that the Almighty God grants her soul eternal rest.”

The deceased was one of the 13 pilots inducted at the NAF Headquarters, Abuja, on Tuesday, August 15, 2019. They were deployed in the North-East and other parts of the country for security operations. Arotile graduated as the best flight student from the Nigerian Air Force in 2017.

See more photos of her below:

Arotile, Buhari and other dignitaries during the induction of combat helicopters in Abuja