A controversy has surrounded the burial of the late Rev. Pastor Joseph Toyuyuhwa Hange (JP) following an alleged disagreement between his family and the leadership of the NKST Church over arrangements for his funeral.
The development was made public in a Facebook post by Terpase Iornumbe, who claimed that the late pastor was eventually buried without the participation of his church. According to Iornumbe, the pastor and elders of NKST Orya in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State, the home church of the deceased, had directed that the wake-keeping be held at RCM Primary School, Bunde, a location close to the deceased’s residence. The arrangement was for the church to conduct the necessary funeral activities at the designated venue before the remains would be taken to the deceased’s home for burial.
However, the family allegedly took the remains directly from the mortuary to the deceased’s residence rather than following the arrangement reportedly communicated by the church leadership. The situation reportedly took a more serious turn on the day of the burial when the pastors allegedly left the deceased’s residence and church members were said to have been directed not to participate. With the church reportedly absent, youths from the deceased’s community eventually took responsibility for his burial.
The incident has raised questions among members of the public about the circumstances that led to the unusual development, particularly the burial of a serving or former pastor without the reported participation of his church. The account circulating on social media represents one side of the dispute, and the positions of the deceased’s family and NKST Church leadership would be necessary to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident. The development has consequently sparked a wider question about where the line should be drawn between a family’s authority over the burial of their deceased relative and the authority of the deceased’s church over its funeral rites.
