The Edo State Police Command has announced the arrest of Toluige Olokoobi’s spouse, the mother of the “mummy calm down” boy, only days after she committed suicide earlier this week.
Olokoobi and her son, Oreofeoluwa Lawal-Babalola, drew the attention of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, after a video of the boy pleading his mother to “mummy be calming down” went viral in 2020.
Mrs Olokoobi’s death was originally reported on Monday by an X (previously Twitter) user who claimed to be at the site.
“The woman in the viral ‘mummy calm down’ video has just committed suicide here in Benin. She refused to speak to anyone about her problems. She left three kids for her husband including the popular mummy calm down boy.”
Another resident of the area who pleaded anonymity disclosed that the deceased, a medicine distributor committed suicide in the presence of her one-year-old son.
Confirming the arrest to journalists in Benin on Friday, the spokesperson of the Edo State Police Command, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, said the deceased’s husband is in their custody for questioning.
“He came home from the market when he saw his wife hanging with rope on her neck. He alerted the neighbours who followed him to the hospital where she was confirmed dead.
“He’s still with the police and will soon be transferred to the State CID for further investigation,” the spokesman added.