JUST IN: Nigeria loses first female military helicopter pilot in road accident

Nigeria has lost its first female military helicopter pilot, Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile,  to a road accident.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) announced this in a statement issued by NAF Director of Public Relations and Information Air Commodore, Ibikunle Daramola on Tuesday.

The statement said Tolulope Arotile died as a result of head injuries sustained from a road traffic accident at NAF Base in Kaduna on Tuesday.

Solacebase reports that ‪Flying Officer Arotile, was commissioned into the NAF in September 2017 as a member of Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 64.

According to the statement, she was the first-ever female combat helicopter pilot in the Service.

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It said during her short but impactful stay in the Service, late Arotile, who hails from Iffe-Ijumu, 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,’’ said the statement.