Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, the first-ever and only female combat helicopter pilot in the Nigerian Air Force, NAF has died.
The 24-year-old was said to have been hit by a car driven by a former classmate who wanted to greet her.
The unnamed ex-classmate was reportedly reversing the car when it hit Arotile who fell and hit her head on the tarmac.
She subsequently died while receiving treatment at the hospital where she was taken to.
This latest development can be described as a major setback for the fight against insurgency and banditry in the country.
NAF Director of Public Relations and Information Air Com. Ibikunle Daramola revealed this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.
Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile and Flying Officer Kafayat Sank, broke the Service’ 55-year-old jinx of becoming the first females Regular Combatant Officers, while Air Warrant Officer, Grace Garuba is said to be the first female Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) to be promoted to the highest rank in the Non-Commissioned Officers’ cadre since the Force was established on April 18, 1964.
