Husband detained as wife takes own life in Edo

Edo State Police Command has detained the husband of Toluige Babalola, mother of the famous boy Oreofeoluwa Lawal-Babalola who went viral in 2020 for telling his mother to “calm down” while she was scolding him.

Spokesman of the Command Chidi Nwabuzor told BBC Pidgin on Thursday that Mr Babalola was detained over his wife’s death.

A resident told the news platform that Mrs Babalola worked in Benin City as medicine distributor while her husband is a taxi driver and car dealer.

News of Mrs Babalola’s death by suicide broke on Tuesday on X.

Confirming the incident, Nwabuzor said Babalola reported the matter to the police.

The police spokesperson quoted him to have said that “he came home from the market when he saw his wife hanging with rope on her neck”.

He said Babalola told the police that his wife took her life in front of their one-year-old child. Babalola and wife have three children.

Nwabuzor added that Babalola said she was rushed to the hospital and then to the mortuary after she was confirmed dead.

Nwabuzor said the case would be transferred to the homicide section of the Command’s CID for further investigation.

In 2020, Oreofeoluwa became so popular that Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu met him.

The viral video inspired Mr Sanwo-Olu’s Eid-el-Kabir message to the Muslim faithful.

Oreofeoluwa was featured in several interviews with media houses. He also said he wanted to be a police officer to help fight corruption in Nigeria.

The boy made his movie debut in Kunle Afolayan’s 2021 film Swallow.