A cross-section of the local community turned out for a procession to honour 15-year-old Toyosi Shittabey, writes RONAN McGREEVYin Tyrrelstown
MORE THAN 1,000 people turned out last night in the bitter cold to pay tribute to Nigerian teenager Toyosi Shittabey who was killed on Good Friday.
It was supposed to be a candlelight procession from Tyrrelstown Plaza to Mount Eustace Crescent where the fatal incident took place, but the strong northerly wind made it impossible to walk holding a candle.
The community in Tyrrelstown waited until they reached the makeshift shrine at the lamp post where he was stabbed to death before lighting their candles.
A Nigerian woman sang Amazing Grace and friends of Toyosi played Michael Jackson’s Heal the World through a loudspeaker. Team mates from Shelbourne FC linked arms and cried openly during the song. Toyosi played for the club’s under 15s.
The multicultural nature of the rally was reflected in the three speakers. Local imam Dr Muhammad Umar al-Qadri prayed that Toyosi, a Muslim, would enter heaven and he would be rewarded for all his good deeds in this life and that patience and succour would be given to his friends and family. “This event today reflects the unity of mankind and the unity in all of us. May an event like this never happen on this Earth,” he said.
Local parish priest Fr Eugene McCarthy read the prayer of St Francis of Assisi and Fr Dan Joe O’Mahony, a teacher at Huntstown Community School where Toyosi was a third-year student, said the Our Father.
Earlier yesterday, several hundred pupils returned to the school to remember the 15-year-old who came to Ireland with his family 11 years ago.
A temporary shrine with his picture was erected at the entrance. Candles were lit and a book of condolence opened.
School principal John Bean told the assembled students, who had been on their Easter break, that they should all work together to ensure such an incident did not happen again.
At his prompting, the students joined in a round of applause as local people had done at a rally for Toyosi on Sunday night.
Mr Bean described Toyosi as a “much-loved member of the school community” who distinguished himself as a footballer and an athlete.
“Toyosi was a great guy, outgoing, full of life. He just wanted to be busy and active all the time. He brought great honour to himself and the school through his achievements in football and in cross-country in particular. He was marvellous,” he said.
There were tears from many of his school friends who signed the book of condolence. “RIP Toyosi, I’m never going to forget you because you were one of the nicest people,” wrote one student.
“You were very quiet, but had a heart of gold,” read another. “See ya bud, you were one of the funniest guys ever” captured a sentiment expressed by many of the pupils.
At the school, Dr al-Qadri appealed to the Muslim community to be calm and not look on last Friday’s attack as a racist one. “We consider it as just a very sad event, but not specifically a racist attack. We would urge everybody to be calm at the moment. I think it could even be a white child, it could be a child that is not coloured that got killed. On this sad occasion, it is a coloured child and that is how we should look at it,” he said.
Local Labour TD Joan Burton, who took part in the procession last night, described the attack which killed Toyosi as a “meaningless, absurd crime” in an area where racial integration was working very well.
Socialist party councillor Ruth Coppinger, who lives locally and teaches in a local school, said there was a “united, integrated community” in Tyrrelstown, but she admitted young people bore the brunt of what racism there is.
“I’ve seen it in schools myself. I’ve spoken to Nigerian students in my own school who say they cannot go into certain areas alone,” she said.
Local immigrant activists will be hosting a march from the Garden of Remembrance to the Dáil on Saturday in memory of the teenager.