Rally today to mark life of Toyosi

A rally to remember the Nigerian teenager Toyosi Shitta-bey who was stabbed to death last week will be held in Dublin city centre this afternoon.

The march takes place from the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square to the Dáil at 2pm and will be addressed by Siptu president Jack O’Connor, MEP Joe Higgins and Labour TD Joan Burton, along with representatives from the Nigerian community.

Toyosi’s cousin Abisoye Shitta- bey said the emphasis would be on positively remembering the 15- year-old’s life who was killed on his way home from the National Aquatic Centre on Good Friday.

“This rally is a peaceful rally,” she said. “It is a memorial for Toyosi so something like this does not happen again. It could happen to anybody’s family. We want our youth to be able to move around without any fear.”

She said the rally had the approval of Toyosi’s father Segun Shitta-bey despite comments from a local imam that Mr Shitta-bey did not approve of the rally.

Dr Umar Al-Qadri said he spoke to Segun after Friday prayers yesterday at the Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre in Damastown and Mr Shitta-bey had conveyed his opposition to the march to him.

“He said categorically to me that he is not involved. He does not agree with the march,” he said.

Dr Al-Qadri explained that Mr Shitta-bey believed his son’s death was not a racist attack and racism was not endemic in Irish society.

“We have been living in this country for the last 10 years and we have never had this before. The experience for the majority of people is a very fine experience,” he said. “If we are going to highlight an issue that is not a real issue, we will have some kind of a reaction.”

Abisoye Shitta-bey said the rally had been organised in Toyosi’s family home and had the full support of the family. “Everybody is doing this for a good cause and he [Dr Al-Qadri] is the only one going against us,” she said. “We don’t even know this man.”

Another march organiser Ignatius Okafor, who stood in the local elections, said he was surprised at suggestions that Mr Shitta-bey was not supporting the rally. “This is the first time I have heard this,” he said.

He stressed that the rally was not to highlight the issue of racism, but a positive affirmation of the spirit of community in multicultural areas like Tyrrelstown where the attack happened.

“This is not a protest or a march for revenge,” he explained.

Mr Shitta-bey issued a statement yesterday through the offices of local TD and Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, who visited the family yesterday.

In it, he thanked residents of Tyrrelstown, gardaí, the Nigerian community, local politicians, Hartstown Community College and Shelbourne Football Club. He also conveyed a desire that everybody should “remain calm while hoping that justice will prevail”.

“Our prayer is that this type of incident will never happen again in our community,” he said.