Tears, Curses As NURTW’s Toba “Ijaya” Gets Multi-Faith Burial With Christian, Islamic Clerics Officiating At Lagos Funeral (PHOTOS)
The burial of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Organising Secretary, Comrade Joel Toba Ajiboye, known as “Toba Ijaya,” took place today Tuesday, with a faith-based service at his on the street named after him in Ketu area of Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Video footages from the ceremony showed both a Pastor and an Islamic Imam ministering at the Ketu, Lagos ceremony.
The NURTW chieftain was shot by unidentified gunmen on Sunday, July 12, while returning from his childhood neighbourhood in Fadeyi.
He finally succumbed to his grievous gunshot wounds on Tuesday, July 14,.
The funeral drew mourners, including family, friends, well-wishers and transport workers, who turned up massively to pay their last respects to Toba, a well-known figure across in Lagos.
When Ijaya’s remains, encased in a brown coffin and carried by pallbearers dressed in black from Heavens funeral homes, arrived at the house, the decibel of wailing climbed even higher.
The procession saw mourners and family members walk solemnly ahead of the coffin as the ceremony unfolded.
Tears flowed freely, with grief-stricken sympathisers raining curses on his killers.
The uncommon multi-faith arrangement that saw turn-by-turn ministrations by both Christian and Islamic clerics at a single individual’s burial service triggered comments across platforms.
For the final interment at the Ereko Street venue in Fadeyi, a short graveside service was held, where the clerics led prayers and offered words of comfort to the deceased’s family and those in attendance.
His bespectacled wife and children, all dressed in white, were the very picture of sorrow, and wept silently throughout the ceremony.
One netizen, @aderonkealaga, put the question bluntly in the comments section, asking: “Sorry to ask pls is he a Muslim?”
Another poster, @office_autos, responded directly to the query, writing: “@aderonkealaga Toba Joel is a Christian but he supports Islam and Islamic clerics.”
Beyond the religious debate, many online mourners focused on celebrating Toba Ijaya’s legacy.
