The paternal family of Nigerian gospel singer Olayemi Bolaji, popularly known as Toluwanisings, has suspended plans for his burial and demanded an impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Wednesday, October 14, 2026.
The family, speaking through the singer’s uncle, Lawal Ademola, said it would continue paying mortuary fees until the cause of death was established, while insisting that no further burial arrangements should proceed before the investigation is concluded.
“The family has resolved that he must not be buried until the cause of his death is established,” Ademola said, adding that the remains should eventually be buried at the singer’s residence in Ibadan.
The demand follows growing disagreements among relatives over the singer’s final resting place, with competing preferences involving his Ibadan residence, a public cemetery and the family’s ancestral home in Osun State.
Ademola, who spoke in an interview shared on social media, appealed to the government, community leaders, religious leaders and security agencies to ensure that the circumstances surrounding the death were investigated without interference.
“We are calling on the government, Christians, Muslims, and traditionalists to help us investigate the cause of Sodiq’s death,” he said, referring to the singer by his birth name.
He added that the family wanted answers to prevent further controversy, stressing that its appeal was not an attempt to take the law into its own hands.
The uncle also said relatives had informed people involved in the burial arrangements that the ceremony planned for Wednesday, October 28, should not proceed.
The dispute intensified on Wednesday when a family representative threatened to exhume the singer’s remains if he was buried in a cemetery against the family’s wishes.
“We have all decided in the family that Toluwanisings must not be buried in the cemetery,” the representative said, insisting that the singer should be brought home for burial.
The representative further warned that the family would remove the remains if an alternative burial arrangement was imposed, although no report reviewed had confirmed that an exhumation had taken place.
The disagreement has exposed differences over whether the singer should be buried at the house he built in Ibadan or taken to the family’s ancestral compound, where his late mother is buried.
His father had earlier said he preferred either the singer’s Ibadan residence or a burial beside his mother in Osun State, while the uncle maintained that the family wanted the singer returned home.
The father also claimed that the singer’s widow opposed a home burial because she would find it difficult to live in a house where her husband was buried.
However, the widow’s direct response to the competing accounts was not available in the reports reviewed, leaving her position to be independently established.
Beyond the burial disagreement, questions have also been raised about the medical attention the singer allegedly received after he collapsed at home.
His personal assistant, Babadunni Gbolabo, said the singer suddenly slumped and that people tried to revive him before taking him to between seven and eight hospitals in Ibadan.
According to Gbolabo, some facilities allegedly gave reasons for not admitting the singer, including the unavailability of doctors during an industrial action.
The University College Hospital, Ibadan, however, said it had no official record showing that the singer was brought there for emergency treatment.
The hospital’s public relations officer, Funmilayo Enitan, said services had resumed after a local strike by resident doctors was suspended and that management had not been officially informed of the singer’s alleged visit.
The conflicting accounts have not established the precise sequence of hospital visits or whether any alleged delay contributed to the singer’s death.
The family’s demand for an investigation also does not establish that anyone caused his death, and no finding of wrongdoing has been confirmed in the reports reviewed.
Meanwhile, the singer’s paternal grandmother, Sabitiyu Olayemi, said she wanted him buried in the house he built rather than beside his late mother, adding another dimension to the disagreement over his final resting place.
She also alleged that the singer rarely contacted her and had provided her with limited financial assistance, claims that remain her personal account of their relationship.
The controversy follows a night of tributes announced for Tuesday, October 27, at Hall of Grace, Jogor Centre, Ibadan, to honour the singer’s life and music.
As of Thursday, October 29, the final burial arrangements remained unclear in the reports reviewed, while the family continued to demand an investigation before the singer is laid to rest.
The official cause of death, the status of any formal investigation and the final burial location have yet to be independently established.
