Harrowing scenes as schoolboy is laid to rest

A TENSE silence was broken in a west Dublin graveyard yesterday when cries of sorrow went up as a the embalmed body of schoolboy Toyosi Shitta-bey was lowered into the ground.

It was an emotional moment as men and women of all ages and ethnic backgrounds cried and Muslim religious leaders prayed as the 15-year-old Nigerian boy’s body was laid to rest.

Earlier, mourners paid their final respects at Cunningham’s Funeral Home in Lucan as Toyosi was laid out in white silk in an open coffin. Family and religious leaders had washed his body, wrapped it in cloth and said prayers over his remains, according to Muslim custom, before classmates, friends and community leaders paid their respects.

Toyosi’s parents did not attend their child’s funeral, as is tradition in Nigeria. But his father, Segun, met mourners at the funeral home earlier, with his sons, Sodiq, 22, and Tunde, 12.

Among the mourners were Integration Minister Mary White, MEP Joe Higgins, Nigerian ambassador Kemafo Nonyerem Chikwe, members of Shelbourne Football Club, for which Toyosi played, Football Association of Ireland chief John Delaney, and classmates and teachers from Hartstown Community School.

Head of Toyosi’s third-year class Eoin Brady said: “It will be very difficult and daunting next Monday when class resumes, especially with his seat being empty. He was not a bad student and his smile would light up a room.”

Afterwards, over 300 mourners attended the burial at a Muslim plot at Newcastle Cemetery.

Following a brief private prayer ceremony in which Imams prayed for the boy while facing Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, his coffin draped in a Shelbourne Football Club flag was carried to the graveside.

Imams then removed his embalmed remains covered in white silk cloth from the coffin and placed them into the grave.

It was at this point that mourners began crying as chief Imam Shehu Adeniji recited prayers and hymns.

Speaking briefly afterwards at the graveside, the religious leader told gathered mourners: “What is paramount for this soul is to be peaceful. This is the lesson. The only thing is to pray for him. Brothers and sisters, your good soul, your good will, is what the boy needs. When you go home today, determine in your mind that ‘I will be law-abiding’... don’t misjudge this incident.”