Mr Akintunde Akotile, the father of late Tolulope Akotile, Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, who died on Tuesday, July 14,said he had telephone conversation with her before her tragic death.
Akotile said he called his daughter on the phone on Tuesday at about 1:00p.m on her return from an operation against bandits in Katsina State and the two of them had several minutes chat.
He, however, said that things took a different dimension later in the day when he received a call from a person telling him of the sad story.
He said during the conversation, Tolu told him she would later go out to make some photocopies to which he advised her not to be long before returning home.
“Around 5:30p.m, 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 5:00p.m she was in the mortuary.”
The bereaved father further disclosed that he had to drive to Lokoja, Kogi State, from Abuja to inform his wife about the incident.
Akotile described the deceased as not only brilliant but wonderful, having done 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 toward 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.”
Www.Vanguard.com
www.kogistatenews.com.ng
www.thenigerianpost.com.ng
www.punchng.com
www.dailypost.ng
