Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, has described the death of Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, Tolulope Arotile, as a personal loss, especially, to the Yorubas, calling on the Federal Government to properly investigate the circumstances leading to it.
Adams said this, on Thursday, in a statement made available to newsmen by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, even as he further described her death as suspicious as it raised many questions.
The Aare Ona Kakanfo, while condoling with the family of the deceased, also urged the International Community, the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), United States (US) and Britain to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the young and promising girl.
“Nigeria has lost one of its best brains in the military in such suspicious circumstances. The late Tolulope Arotile’s short span in life was remarkable with a track record of being the first female combat helicopter pilot. The best we can do as a nation is to get to the root of the circumstances culminating in her death.
“As far as I am concerned, reports of her death still remained suspicious to me because her death has raised many questions,” Iba Adams said.
The generalissimo wondered why such a promising, young girl be killed by a car put at a reverse within the premises of the barrack, wondering further who drove the car and where was the suspected killer at the moment, among others.
“How would such a promising, young girl be killed by a reversing car within the premises of the barrack? Who drove the car? What was his or her name? Where was the suspected killer at the moment? And what is the present situation?” he queried.
“We will like to know, and that is why I am charging the International Community to investigate and look into the circumstances surrounding her death,” he said.
Adams, however, said the death of such a promising, young girl had exposed the nation as a country that never valued the lives of its citizens, especially, the best and exceptional citizens, declaring that he was not one to believe the story surrounding her gruesome murder.
“I take an exception to believe the story surrounding her gruesome murder. Her achievements speak volumes and many in the system may see her rising profile as a threat to the establishment, mostly with her passion towards ending the threats of the dreaded Boko Haram and bandits terrorising the North-West and the rest of the country,” Adams said.
Iba Adams, while commiserating with the family of the deceased flying officer, and praying God to grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss, said he felt the pain of a father whose daughter’s shining light went dim unexpectedly, adding that the sadness of losing a promising girl like Totulope was eternal to her family, due to her talents and dedication to duty.
He said, for this reason, her death should not go the usual way but must be investigated being.
“I feel the pain of a father whose daughter’s shining light went dim unexpectedly. The sadness of losing a promising girl like Totulope was eternal to her family, because of her talents and dedication to duty, so it should not go the usual way, where our best brains died without any investigation being carried out,” the Aare Ona Kakanfo said.
“Tolu’s father said he spoke with his daughter, by 1 pm and by 5 pm, a few hours later, she was reportedly killed by a reversing car and was in the mortuary. That story needs to be investigated because her case is one out of the many deaths of great Nigerians that made positive impacts toward making Nigeria great, and that is one of the reasons people of excellent and exceptional brains find it difficult to serve the country, and they are all over the world doing great.”
“I have travelled across the world, and I see many Nigerians doing wonderfully well in their respective disciplines, but they always feel reluctant to come back home, because of the way we treat our best brains, I think this is too bad for the development of our nation. Moreso, I share in the grief of the family as I pray God to give the family the fortitude to bear the loss,” he added.
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