Akintunde Arotile, father of Tolulope, the late first female
combat helicopter pilot of the Nigerian Air Force, has narrated how he spoke to
her a few hours before she died.
Speaking with NAN on Wednesday, Arotile said being
devastated “is an understatement,” recalling how the late Tolulope aspired to
have an air service career as a child.
The late NAF officer died in a freak accident at the Kaduna
air force base on Tuesday.
A former classmate of hers was said to have unknowingly
knocked her down during which she sustained head injuries.
Arotile recalled how he had told his daughter to “return
home on time” when they spoke hours to her demise, not knowing she was never
going to be home again.
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Sympathisers around the parents of the deceased pilot |
“Just yesterday, at about 1 pm, I called her because she
just came back from an operation against the bandits in Katsina (and) they gave
them one week to rest,” he said.
“So, she was sleeping and told me she was in bed resting.
She said 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 5:30 pm, somebody called me and asked if I had
called her today and I said ‘yes’. Then the person told me to call her which I
did, but no response, so I called her colleagues, and they were all crying on
phone.
“I asked what happened, they were just crying. So, I called one of her bosses who told me that she
is in the mortuary and I said, ‘this is somebody I spoke with four hours ago
and by 5pm she was in the mortuary’.”
He also recalled how his late daughter dreamt about flying
an aircraft, saying “she had not just been brilliant but wonderful.”
“One day when she was very small, she pointed to one small
aircraft parked on the field and said, ‘dad, one day, I am going to fly that
aircraft’ and I said ‘Amen’,” he recalled, adding that she started working
towards actualising the dream from that day.
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| The deputy governor signing the condolence register. |
“Right from day one, she had been very very intelligent.
Sometimes, I wonder what type of IQ she had. She also combined intelligence
with hard-work. I just thank God that she was able to achieve her dreams as a
baby before her death,” Arotile said.
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May her soul rest in peace and may God fill the vacuum she left.
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