Posted by By MOSHOOD ADEBAYO, Abeokuta on
Temiloluwa Oluwaseesin is 10 months old. He is one of the two children of the late Mrs. Oluwatoyin Christianah Oluwaseesin who was brutally murdered by fanatical Muslim pupils in Gombe Wednesday last week.
Temiloluwa Oluwaseesin is 10 months old. He is one of the two children of the late Mrs. Oluwatoyin Christianah Oluwaseesin who was brutally murdered by fanatical Muslim pupils in Gombe Wednesday last week. He may be too young to know what has happened, but his actions suggest he knew that religious intolerance had denied him of his dear mother.
At about 5.37p.m. last Saturday when the remains of the slain woman arrived the premises of the Idi-Aba Baptist Church in Abeokuta, Ogun State, for funeral service, little Temiloluwa cried uncontrollably as if he knew that a calamity had just befallen him.
For about three minutes after the 504 Peugeot station wagon ambulance pulled to a stop in front of the church and the remains of his mother was being lifted from the booth of the car, the toddler stared at the coffin and burst into tears again. It took so much time before he could be pacified and the funeral service started.
Until her brutal murder by a group of fanatical Muslim students, the late Oluwatoyin was a contract teacher at the Government Secondary School Gandu in Gombe, Gombe State.
The little boy was not in grief alone. Other members of the congregation around were also in sorrowful mood lamenting the gruesome murder of ‘Sister Toyin.'
The mother of two, (the oldest is two and a half years) met her untimely death after she was accused of desecrating the Holy Quoran. A Christian who was married to Dr. Oluwafemi Oluwaseesin about three years ago, she was said to be invigilating an Islamic Religious Knowledge examinations at the school when the incident happened.
The first born of her parents who lost her father only last year incurred the wrath of the Muslim pupils after she allegedly collected a set of books which unknown to her included a Holy Quran during the examination and threw them away.
She was quoted to have said that the pupils wanted to cheat with the books which were smartly wrapped in a Holy Quran.
The late teacher who was billed to take up another job in Abeokuta next month was, however, believed to be unaware that the books she seized included the Quran.
The pupils reportedly unleashed terror on her after the examination as they waited for her outside the school premises during which she was allegedly stabbed, stripped naked and later burnt to death.
The angry students chanting Allahu Akbar (God is great) also inflicted injuries on the school principal who had tried to caution them against the heinous act.
In the melee that was unprecedented in the school, the Islamic fundamentalists also set the late teacher's car as well as three classrooms, the school clinic, and administrative block ablaze among other property destroyed in the school.
In his sermon, the pastor in charge of the Idi-Aba Baptist Church, Pastor Matthew Alade Ogundeji lamented the death of the teacher, which he described as unreligious.
Ogundeji gave meaning to each letter of the word ‘death' and wondered why anyone or group of people would kill for the sake of religion. "Let nobody judge his fellow human being on the basis of religion for it is God Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth that will judge all mortals."
While consoling the husband of the late teacher, the pastor said every mortal must die one day. "No matter our position in life, whatever we think we are or have achieved in this life, death must knock at our door one day".
"It is not death that matters, but how we spend our life here on earth because we will all give our stewardship on the day of judgment. For our dear Sister Toyin whom I learnt knew God before her death, she is resting in the bossom of our Lord Jesus Christ," he added.
Honourable Samuel Kantoma Kumo, political Adviser to the Governor of Gombe State lamented the death of Mrs. Oluwaseesin and prayed for the repose of her soul. He recalled the efforts of the state government in checking the ugly tide which he said included the closure of all schools in the state.
Husband of the late teacher for greater part of the funeral service remained speechless. Dressed in a black shirt over a black trousers, he shook his head in regret as the church choir rendered a special music on the vanity of life. He cuddled little Temiloluwa while the service lasted.