Cops: 9-year-old twins left mostly alone for months, parents abroad

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Twin 9-year-old boys were left mostly alone in their New Hampshire apartment for four months after their parents took three siblings to Nigeria and left an uncle to care for them, authorities said today.

Manchester police said the uncle, 25-year-old Giobari Atura, 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. 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 today, but no one answered a knock; a telephone listed in Jerusalem Monday's name was not receiving calls.