(NNP) Nigeria has lost a very bright and upcoming officer in the person of Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile who died of head injuries suffered in a car accident at NAF base in Kaduna. Officer Arotile was just 23.  Her unfortunate death was announced by Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Commissioned in September 2017 as a member of Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 64, Flying Officer Arotile became the first female helicopter combat pilot in the Nigerian Airforce. In the last few months, she has participated in several combat missions to flush the North Central region of bandits terrorizing the population under operation code named GAMA AIKI in Minna, Niger State.

Her bravery at such a young age has attracted the attention of President Buhari who through his spokesman, Femi Adesina, expressed his sympathies to her family and commended her deftness as a Flying Officer. The president commented on how Arotile flew several missions to protect the country from the menace of bandits saying her memory and contributions will be indelible.

The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, speaking on behalf of men and women of the Nigerian Airforce, expressed his condolences to her family calling her death an “irreparable loss.”

Flying Officer Arotile hailed from Iffe in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

-NewNigerianPolitics