It was a dark Tuesday after the news of the death of Tolulope Arotile, Nigeria’s female combat helicopter pilot circulated. She died from a road traffic accident. According to reports, she was knocked down by a former Air Force Secondary School classmate friend who was trying to greet her while reversing the vehicle inside the Kaduna Air Force Base.
Arotile, who suffered a severe head injury with massive haemorrhage from the accident, couldn’t survive.Tributes have continued to pour in over her shocking and sudden death. The latest is from Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, whom he described her
as a pace setter and Nigeria’s number one. In a tweet, he said:
“Tolulope Arotile was an inspiration. She shattered the ceiling, and will always be our number 1.
“May she rest in the bosom of the Lord. And may the Almighty God grant the Arotile family and all her loved ones the comfort to bear this loss. -AA”
Here are 7 facts you didn’t know about Nigeria’s first female combat pilot:
1. Tolulope Arotile was born in 1995 and grew up in Kaduna.
2. She was a native of Iffe area in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
3. She attended the Air Force Schools in Kaduna for her primary and secondary education.
4. She joined the Nigerian Air Force 401 Flying training school Kaduna on the 22nd of December 2012.
5. She graduated and became an officer in the force on the 16th of September 2017. She was selected to train in South Africa following her performance during her initial flying training course at 401 Flying Training School Kaduna.
6. She acquired 460 hours of flight within 14 months in a helicopter as of October 2019.
7. Tolulope Arotile was decorated the first female fighter helicopter pilot the Nigerian Airforce has had in 55 years on October 15, 2019, by the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs (Dame) Pauline Tallen and the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal, Sadique Abubakar