Nigerian parents, Jerusalem and Gladys Monday, have lost custody of
their 9 yr old twins after they left them mostly to themselves in their
New Hampshire apartment for four months and took their other three
children to Nigeria. They left their twins in the care of an uncle who
hardly visited. More of the story below from AP...
Manchester
police said the uncle, 25-year-old Giobari Atura (pictured above), told them he would
stop by every couple of days to drop off food, but when police got
involved in November, they found no edible food in the refrigerator and
only ramen noodles in a cabinet.
Atura was charged in December with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. He was freed on $500 bail.
Atura's
older brother, Jerusalem Monday, left for Nigeria with his wife and
three of their children in July, intending to return in August. They
told police they were delayed by illness and passport problems.
The
door at their apartment was ajar Thursday, but no one answered a knock;
a telephone listed in Jerusalem Monday's name was not receiving calls. A
neighbor, Christaly Garcia, said she didn't recall seeing the boys but
noted they wouldn't necessarily stand out because there are a lot of
kids in the well-kept apartment complex in New Hampshire's largest city.
The
case came to light in November when officials at the boys' school told
the state Division of Children, Youth and Families that the twins had
been living on their own for months. The kids were getting themselves up
and on the bus, then eating breakfast and lunch at school.
The boys were taken into protective custody and then placed into foster care.
Assistant
Hillsborough County Attorney Michael Valentine said the parents
returned home shortly after they learned the boys were being left alone.
Because they left them in the care of a relative, Valentine said, they
won't be charged. The boys are back with their parents.
In
a police affidavit, Atura said he'd stop by the apartment on days that
he went to work, but that didn't happen every day. He said he checked on
the boys three days a week and told them to call him if they needed
anything.
"It should be noted that no operable phone was located within the apartment," the affidavit says.
In
an interview with police, one of the boys said "he felt lonely while
staying at their own house because his mom and dad were not there and
nobody was with them," according to the affidavit.
When
police finally reached the parents, they said they had instructed Atura
to stay at the apartment, and if he couldn't, they gave him the name of
a family friend to contact. The parents said they stayed in phone
contact with Atura, who assured them everything was fine.
His phone number isn't listed. His lawyer, John Stanzel, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
