The driver who knocked down Flying Officer, Tolulope Arotile, is a civilian who had no valid driving credentials; military sources have informed Channels Television. According to the sources, the driver was also Arotile’s secondary school classmate.

The Nigerian Air Force announced the demise of Arotile, who was Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, on Wednesday.

She died, on Tuesday, as a result of head injuries sustained from a road traffic accident at the NAF Base Kaduna.

The sources, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the civilian driver, accompanied by his friends, visited his relations at the Airforce base located in Mando area of Kaduna metropolis on that fateful day and decided to drop off the late Airforce Pilot whom he spotted on the road inside the base.

However, in the process of reversing the car, he knocked down the deceased, who died after sustaining head injuries, the sources claimed. Both the driver and the other occupants of the car were said to have been taken into the custody of the Air police for questioning, where it was discovered that the driver of the car has no valid driver’s license.

Tributes for Arotile have poured in from all quarters since the announcement of her death early Wednesday. The NAF has said she will be buried in full military honours.

Pix: Late Arotile