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General News of Thursday, 16 July 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Hours after we spoke on phone, they told me she was in the mortuary - Tolulope Arotile's father

Tolulope Arotile's parents Tolulope Arotile's parents

Mr Akintunde Arotile, the father of Nigeria's first female combatant pilot, Tolulope Arotile, has revealed the conversation he had with his daughter before she died in an accident.

He revealed that both of them spoke on phone after she returned from an operation of combating bandits. Hours later, he got a phone call that she was involved in an accident.

He said, "She told me that she will later go out to make some photocopies and I told her not to be long and to return home on time because she was staying with my first daughter in Kaduna.

"Around 5:30pm, somebody called me and asked if I had called her and I said yes. The person told me to call her again which I did, but there was no response. So, I called her colleagues and they were all crying on phone. I asked what happened, they were just crying.

"I called one of her bosses who told me that she was in the mortuary. I was shocked because said she was somebody I spoke with four hours earlier and by 5:00pm she was in the mortuary."

He revealed that he had to drive to Kogi State from Abuja to inform his wife of the news of their daughter's death.

Speaking on the life of his daughter, Mr Arotile said, "She has not just been brilliant but wonderful. She did all her education from kindergarten to nursery at the Air Force base and Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna.

"One day, when she was very small, she pointed to one small aircraft packed on the field and said one day she was going to fly that aircraft, and I said Amen.

"So, from that day she started working towards getting admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna. She had a degree in Mathematics and became an Air Force Cadet.

"From there, she was sent on several courses abroad and became a pilot.

"I thank God that she was able to achieve her dreams as a baby before her death."