Twins left home alone for months while parents were abroad

Twin 9-year-old boys were left home alone in their family’s New Hampshire apartment for four months. The parents took three siblings to Nigeria and left an uncle to care for them. The uncle, Giobari Atura, told them he would stop by every so often to drop off food and check up on them. When the police got involved in November, no edible food was found in the refrigerator. Atura was charged in December with the misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child. He was freed on a $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 explained to the police that they were delayed by illness and passport problems. The case came to light in November when officials at the boys’ school notified the state Division of Children, Youth and Families that the twins had been living on their own for months. The boys were taken into protective custody and then placed into foster care. The parents returned home shortly after they learned the boys were left alone. They won’t be charged due to them leaving the twins in the care of a relative. The boys are now back home with their parents.