Emotions were apparently controlled by parishioners who converged on the Central Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, in Abuja to pay tributes to the slain Buckingham University law graduate, Toritseju Emmanuel Jackson on the occasion of a well-attended service of songs.
Toritseju, who was stabbed to death in the company of some friends in the early hours of penultimate Sunday, September 12, 2021, attended the RCCG, Central Parish while alive together with his entire family members.
The parents, Mr and Mrs Jackson are prominent members of the parish. The mother is a teacher in the Children’s church.
Toritseju himself was groomed in the children’s church through the Teenage Church at which point he travelled to the UK to study Law.
He had returned to Nigeria in January this year to participate in the compulsory one year call to bar studies at the Nigerian Law School, NLS, Bwari in Abuja.
The service of songs was very well attended. The
church auditorium spilled over to the “overflow.”
A member of the church who was emotion laden told THE CONCLAVE that “this is the kind of attendance one will wish for his child’s wedding day.”
From what THE CONCLAVE could observe on the occasion, it was apparent that Toritseju was very well loved and his family, very highly regarded.
The family, immediate and extended, came dressed in all-white traditional attires, symbolically to subsume the sombre ambience of the event.
Church workers in the Children’s Department where he was groomed and where his mum serves in the church, came dressed in red t-shirts over skirts.
Immediate younger sister to Toritseju, Warami, who flew in from school in the UK, to pay her last respects to her brother, read his biography.
She alluded to the multivalent talents and potential of her brother, who, despite being a cub-lawyer was a literary aficionado who loved literature books.
According to Warami, Toritseju loved the arts, creativity, photography and football, among other interests.
She described him as a natural leader, who pulled his siblings along with him and supported their endeavours.
Warami described the equilibrium in the family as being balanced, with four male and two female children, pointing out that her brother’s demise had tilted the scale.
The twin younger brothers to Toritseju, Aye and Laju, gave the vote of thanks.
Subduing palpable emotions, they promised to soldier on with life and their pursuits, as a way of paying tributes to the memory of their brother, who they described as the ideal team leader.
Meanwhile, church leaders and sympathisers are expected in the church by 8am on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 for onward movement to the National Hospital mortuary where the body is kept.
According to the programme of events, the procession would proceed to the Christian section of the Gudu Cemetery, Abuja, for graveside prayers and internment.
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