A Nigerian
couple, Arinola 33, and Olalekan Olawusi were arrested in Providence, Rhode
Island, US on Monday, April 3 and arraigned in court on a felony charges of
child neglect, first and degree child abuse.
Providence
Journal reports that early Monday afternoon, the frantic father called 911 and
said his child was dying. Three-month-old Tobiloba Olawusi wasn’t breathing and
didn’t have a pulse, police say, but Providence firefighters resuscitated the
baby in their rush to Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
That’s where
the medical staff found the baby had old and new injuries — bite marks and a
fractured skull, broken ribs, arms and legs, said Special Assistant Attorney
General Shannon Signore, chief of the office’s child abuse unit.
The baby’s
mother, Arinola told the police that her husband, bit the baby and pulled his
legs to "make him grow and strong,"
Whether the
child will survive remains to be seen. The baby’s prognosis was still uncertain
on Tuesday, Signore said.
The Olawusis
were arraigned Tuesday afternoon, April 4th, exactly 24 hours after police were
called by the hospital to investigate. Arinola Olawusi was arraigned in Family
Court on a felony charge of child neglect. Olalekan Olawusi was arraigned in
District Court on charges of first- and second-degree child abuse.
A judge set bail
at $40,000 with surety for Olalekan and ordered him to surrender his Nigerian
passport. The family has been living at 49 Constitution St., in the city’s West
End. Both parents are ordered not to have any contact with the baby.
The state
Department of Children, Youth and Families has been involved with the baby
since birth, said spokesman Denis Riel. An older sibling is already in foster
placement with a relative, he said.
DCYF is
investigating the circumstances around the case and conducting an internal
review, Riel said.
Riel said a
caseworker can have contact with a family in state care once a month, according
to national standards, but there is also a network of community-based providers
involved with the family.
There was no
formal complaint about the baby’s care, Riel added
A caseworker
was assigned to the family, however there was no information released about how
often the family was visited or what services were recommended.
Arinola
Olawusi self-published a book — “A to Z Ways to Achieve Your Goals In Life” —
which lists her biography as a motivational speaker who is “involved with
helping pregnant and worried women and their children.” She wrote that she and
her husband, Olalekan Olawusi, are “blessed with a loving son."
The jacket
says, “She is very passionate about knowledge and information along with
motivating and encouraging the hurting."
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