He remains of Bukky and Toyin Coker,
who died in the November 21 building collapse at Jakande Low Cost Estate in
Isolo, Lagos, were laid to rest at the Ikoyi Cemetery, Lagos on Friday.
The service was solemn and short, but
left no one in doubt that the death of Bukky (25) and Toyin (30) is a great
loss to their family, especially their 68-year-old mother, Adebisi, who has now
been left with no child.
Relations, neighbours, community and
church members hung their heads in sorrow as voice of the officiating priest,
Mr. Prosper Makafui, fell in cadence on each word of exhortation.
“They have gone. No matter what we do
right now, no matter what we say, they will not come back,” he said.
Makafui, a pastor at the Winners’
Chapel, Oke-Afa, Isolo, read from the book of Psalm, urging the people to live
in perfect alliance with God’s precepts.
He said, “It is appointed for man to
die only once, after that, judgement. Death comes only when one least expects.
“From what I have heard about these
sisters we are laying to rest here today, I have no doubt that God will grant
them eternal peace. I heard Toyin’s church members were waiting for her that
day she died to come and sweep the church as she usually did.”
Then, came the time to lower the
sisters into the grave; Toyin’s body went in first and Bukky’s followed, one
atop the other in the same grave.
Some sympathisers waved at the grave,
wondering how their mother would ever move on.
Standing apart from the others at the
graveside and looking devastated was a young man, who later identified himself
simply as Dele.
Asked if he knew the deceased, he
said Bukky was his friend.
He was the last person Bukky spoke
with before she died.
Dele told our correspondent, “I
called her briefly about 10 pm that night, but we decided to continue our chat
on the BlackBerry messenger.
“We spoke about a lot of things;
life, her plan to go for further studies, our future and many other things. But
about 10.30 pm, Bukky said she was feeling sleepy and we said our goodbyes.”
Dele said usually, one of them would
call the other when they woke up.
But on Wednesday morning (Nov. 21),
when he did not receive Bukky’s call, he called her cell-phone.
“Her phone was not available and I
kept trying thinking that her phone battery was flat. I was checking something
online later when I saw the news,” he said.
At this point, Dele turned and walked
away, sobbing.
The sisters’ uncle, Mr. Muyiwa
Oluwole, could not contain himself too, when he spoke about her nieces.
“They were like their father. He was
a very quiet man. I grew up with their father, who was my cousin. I was present
when Bukky and Toyin were born. It is really sad, very sad,” he said.
The sisters died when a wing of their
building collapsed at the estate, injuring their mother.
Adebisi is still undergoing treatment
at the Lagoon Hospital where the news was broken to her on Tuesday.
Their death is a tragic reminder of
the structural defects that make many Lagos houses death traps