The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has announced that the late Tolulope Arotile, Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, who died on Tuesday, will be buried on Thursday, 23 July.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, on Friday.
According to the military service, the late pilot will be buried with full military honours at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja.
The statement read: “The remains of late Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, NAF’s first combat helicopter pilot who died on July 14 will be laid to rest with full military honours at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja on July 23.
“Meanwhile, a condolence visit to the Arotile family in Lokoja by a high-powered delegation, composed of the CAS, Honourable Minister of Women Affairs as well as the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Air Force, has been scheduled to hold on a date before the burial.”
Also on Friday, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, the Chief of Air Staff, received some members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and members of the National Assembly, who visited him at NAF Headquarters, to condole with him over the demise of Arotile.
Among members of the FEC present at the NAF headquarters were the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen; and the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.
The joint delegation from the upper and lower houses of the National Assembly, comprising 20 members, was led by the Chairman Senate Committee on Air Force, Distinguished Senator Bala Ibn-Na’Allah, and the Chairman House Committee on the Air Force, Honourable Shehu Koko.
