Barely a year after she was decorated as Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, Tolulope Arotile, has died.
She died on Tuesday from head injuries she sustained from a road traffic accident at Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Base Kaduna in northern Nigeria.
Tolupe was decorated by President Muhammdu Buhari on 15 October 2019 as the first female combat helicopter pilot in the Nigerian Air Force.
Her death came about a year after she was winged as a combat helicopter pilot in the Air Force following the completion of her course in South Africa
Aged 24, Tolupe hailed from Ife in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State
A statement by the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said that Arotile, a Flying Officer, 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.
