Tolulope Arotile:I suspect foul play, I hope her death will be investigated- Sister

….She was a prayer warrior-mother

Damilola Adegboye elder sister of the late Tolulope Arotile has said she suspected some foul play in the death of her sister.

Arotile was Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot of the Nigerian Air Force. She died on July 14 according to the Nigerian Airforce in a car crash on the airforce base in Kaduna

Adegboye however, told Channels Television in an interview monitored online by Church Times that she suspected foul play in the death of her sister.

She wondered how an accident within the NAF base in Kaduna could lead to her death insisting that the vehicle that hit her must have done it intentionally or “stupidly”

Recalling the scenario before her death, Adegboye said she was the one who dropped her at the mammy market where she went to do a photocopy of some documents. “She did not allow me to take her back because her quarters is not far from the market. It was while she was coming back from the market that the vehicle hit her inside the airforce base.”

While disclosing that she first heard of her death on the social media, she said there are speed bumps all over the place at the airforce base. “For anyone to speed on that road, it is either intentional or stupidly. I believe there is foul play. I am aware they have arrested the boys who drove the car that hit her. From the story I was told, she was backing them and they reversed to say hello to her. They claimed she was their school mate. She was coming back to the quarters when this happened. They must have reversed stupidly to have hit her.”

Tolulope Arotile: I suspect foul play

She said when she first heard of the incident she felt she perhaps just fainted because she was always fasting. “I thought she was dehydrated or fainted. But when I heard it was a car that hit her I was surprised. It was a normal car. The report I got was that there was a huge impact on the car. She was very light. She was not tall. Five feet 5 feet, 5 inches tall. So I am wondering how the impact on the car could be that much. I saw she had a head injury. She suffered a little cut on her body. I did not believe she was gone until I saw her body.”

She then called for an investigation into the incident. “I want the authority to investigate thoroughly so that there won’t be room for speculations. I hope they get to give us a response that is believable.”

She said she was not sure who the boys who rode in the car were but that they are not military boys. One of them according to Adegboye is said to have relative at the airforce base.

Also commenting, Akintunde Arotile father of the late pilot described her daughter as a special gift from God. He said he used to wonder the kind of intelligence God blessed her with adding that she was a prayer warrior.

“Talking about Tolu in the past tense is for me more than a crushing blow. God gave her a very high intellectual quotient. She was a special creation by God. She was so close to God that nothing could stop her from prayers. She was either sleeping, at work or praying. I believe even before they took her body from under the car that hit her she was already in paradise. That is my consolation. I am sure heaven will give her a special place.”

Her mother recalled her birth saying “How I gave birth to her I don’t know. She came out of my womb easy and quiet. Right from when she was a small child of about 1-year-old, if I was fasting, she would be the first person to come and meet me and say she wants to fast along with me. But when it is 8 am she would ask when we would break. Just to tell you she did not have full understanding then. But when she grew up fasting became her second nature. She was always fasting and praying.

“I thank God for giving Tolu to me but she did not promise me that she would go so soon. Tolu was a prayer warrior. She had known God right from her childhood. I give glory to God for her life. Her first year in the academy, I saw marks on her body. I went to bring her home from the bus stop I could not recognize her. I said she was not going back to the academy and I said must you die because you want to be in the academy. But she would say mummy just be praying for me. We were into it and God was lifting her up more than expectations. A few weeks ago, she asked me, mummy, how is your health, she said she would take care of me.

“I know Tolu is with her father in heaven. She was fasting almost every day. She was always praying and fasting. Any problem with her colleague she will be praying and fasting. She is supposed to be 24 on December 13 this year. I will miss everything about her. She said she was praying for me before she died. She said she was not going anywhere the day she died. She said she would continue to pray for me. Every blessed day she would fast and pray.”