Akintude Arotile, father of female flying officer, Tolulope Arotile, has spoken on the deceased last hours before her death. He narrated how he spoke with Tolulope few hours before her sudden death.
Tolulope, 24 died inside the NAF Base in Kaduna on Tuesday, July 14 2020.
Akintunde who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday, July 15, narrated how he spoke to the deceased few hours before she died.
He said he had told his daughter to “return home on time” when they spoke hours from her passing.
“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.
“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.
“Around5:30 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 the phone,” he said.
Arotile said he later found out from one of her bosses that his daughter was dead.
He recalled how his late daughter dreamt about flying an aircraft, saying “she had not just been brilliant, but wonderful.”
The mourning father thanked God that his daughter was able to achieve her childhood dream of becoming a pilot.
A statement by NAF spokesman revealed that she was inadvertently hit by the vehicle of a former classmate while trying to greet her.
In his reaction, Governor Yahaya Bello described Tolulope’s death as shocking, devastating and a national tragedy.
