Tributes As Arotile Is Laid To Rest

The remains of Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, Tolulope Arotile, have been buried amidst tributes at the Military Cemetery in Abuja.

She was accorded full Military honours as the heirarchy of the Nigerian Military led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin paid tributes.

The remains were lowered into the grave at exactly 11.05 am.

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique; Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello and his wife; the House Committee Chairman on Air Force, Bala Ib’n Nalla and the family members of the deceased were there to pay their last respects.

The country was thrown into mourning last week Tuesday when the Nigerian Air Force first announced that the country’s first female combat helicopter pilot died from a road traffic accident at the NAF base in Kaduna State.

The air force said the female officer sustained head injuries from the accident when she was “inadvertently hit by the reversing vehicle of an excited former Air Force secondary school classmate while trying to greet her.”

NAF said Arotile was hit by an ex-classmate, Nehemiah Adejoh, who had no valid driver’s licence, noting that the matter, being a civil case, would be transferred to the Nigeria Police Force.