On Tuesday, July 14, 2020, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) announced the death of its first female combat pilot, Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile. The 24-year-old reportedly died on Tuesday as a result of head injuries sustained from a road traffic accident at NAF Base, Kaduna State.

According to a statement by Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, “Arotile was inadvertently hit by the reversing vehicle of an excited former Air Force Secondary School classmate” who was trying to exchange pleasantries with her. 

Arotile died barely a year after she was winged as a combat helicopter pilot in the Air Force following the completion of her course in South Africa.

Read more: The Nation.