Terrorism: Nigeria’s Best Combat Female Pilot, Dies in Accident

By Fola James

She was barely 24 years old but has achieved what her peers are still struggling to become: the first Nigeria female combat helicopter pilot.

Tolulope Arotile, who emerged as the the best graduating student from the Nigerian Air Force in 2017 is dead.

Arotile met her death in a road accident in Kaduna state on Tuesday.

The magazine learnt that the deceased, is one of the very few combat pilots that have embarked on various dangerous missions to decimate Boko haram and armed bandits operating in the northern part of the country.

Commissioned into the Nigerian Airforce in September 2017 and described by Chief of Air staff, Sadique Abubakar as one of the best combat pilots in the country, the untimely death of Arotile has come as a rude shock to many Nigerians.

The magazine learnt that the pilot died after sustaining severe  head injuries from the road accident which occurred at the NAF Base in Kaduna.

In a statement by the Airforce, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar, described her death as an “irreparable loss”.

The Force said her demise is a big loss in the fight against terrorism and criminality in the country.

The statement said “It is with great sorrow that the Nigerian Air Force regretfully announces the unfortunate demise of Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, who died today (Tuesday), 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.”

Before she was decorated as the first female combatant helicopter pilot last year, Arotile who hailed from Iffe in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State and has completed a course at the Starlite International Training Academy, South Africa.

She was among  the 13 pilots inducted at the NAF Headquarters, in August, 2019.

They were later deployed in the North-East and other parts of the country for combat operations.

Meanwhile, many Nigerians have described her death as a big loss to the country, at a time when her service is needed the most in the fight against terrorism and other criminality.

“We pray that the Almighty God grants her soul eternal rest,” the Airforce said in the statement.