Nigerian Grandma, Nanny Oluremi Adeleye Jailed For Forcing Feeding Baby & Chocking Him To Death
Nigerian Killer Custom Force Feeding Custom Landed 73 Year Old Nanny In Jail As Baby She Force-Fed Chocked To Death
Madam Oluremi Adeleye, a 73-year-old Nigerian nanny in the United States, was recently jailed for 15 years for murder. Her story would melt not a few souls.
It is a grim example of how love can prompt duty, duty prompt tradition, tradition leads to death, albeit unintended; and death paves the way to jail — to jail after 70!.
Enita Salubi, the baby in the care of Nanny Adeleye wouldn’t feed. To avoid her starving, the nanny cottoned onto the popular traditional practice among Nigerian mothers — force-feeding the child. Unfortunately, poor Enita, with some eight ounces of milk down the throat of the baby and her nose tightly closed, the eight-month old choked to death!.
Though the nanny’s lawyers explained babies’ force-feeding was common practice in Nigeria, that the baby died was a notorious fact that couldn’t be wished away.
“While I don’t find the defendant is an evil-intentioned baby slayer,” Judge Karen Mason told the court before pronouncing the sentence, “I also don’t find her actions were accidental.”
The judge said it all. The action — force-feeding — was certainly not accidental, even if the resultant death was unfortunately so. Indeed, given a changed cultural milieu, like Nigeria for instance, it would have passed as a logical resort to a time and tested baby feeding formula.
The only exception, of course, is that death is not expected to occur from such improvising; for the mother or nanny or guardian, would have been expected to fully master the art, before applying it. That doesn’t however mean the death of an infant, even if it is from a honest mistake, could have been less severely punished.
This indeed, is a chain of tragedies. The eight-month old infant bid life bye-bye, when she had but the whole of her new life stretching in front of her, throwing her mother into indescribable grief.
“I didn’t want to lose my child to a stray bullet …” pained mum, Nikia Porter volunteered, explaining she quit her former South Side of Chicago neighbourhood to escape gun violence, which could put her family in danger, but “I lost her to a formula.” Sad!
But no less sad too is the fate of Madam Adeleye, who suddenly realised she could be spending all of her last days in jail, when she should be coasting home in the comfort and warmth of family and friends.
And the agony and pains, of her own offspring, extended family and even friends — is it describable too? To spend probably the last of your days in a foreign jail! Agonising!.
But her fate also brings attention to the situation at home. If things were better here, would a 73-year-old national, without any specific skill, be moonlighting on a nanny’s job, when she should have been drinking palm wine and telling her grandchildren the famous African moonlight stories?.
That points attention to the imperative to fix our country. But that won’t be done by people just pointing fingers and trading blames. Only clinical and creative thinking and a joint resolve by all can turn the tide.
Still, you just must feel for the tragic pair: Baby Enita and Nanny Adeleye!.
I think force feeding is too aggressive. The baby died because she’s not used to it.
This grandma should have been warned by her kids that this is America and not Naija
Dis is very similar to a case that happened to my mom in 2016. I caught her force feeding a friend’s baby , I warned her immediately and she stopped. Who knows she could have been in jail by now.
Warning to all Nigerians, warn your mum about this kind of it before you bring her in
Whether in Nigeria or America or even Jupiter, force feeding is WRONG. If you do it, please stop it. The disadvantages far outweigh the benefit. Those older generations had too many wrong practices and blamed the consequeces on witchcraft. One of such is this force feeding of a thing and when a child dies because of it, they will call tha child an ogbanje. Too bad this old woman put herself in this kind of mess.
The practice of force feeding should be abolished in Nigeria. I witnessed it a lot in Nigeria but that did not lead to death because those grandmothers and mothers mastered the art. Though Mrs. Adeleye did not intend to kill the baby, the practice this time proved costly.
It is so sad that this woman will have to spend the rest of her entire life in prison. I can’t figure out how her children will feel by bringing their mother into the US and watch her spending her last days of life in prison. They would have preferred her sitting at home and taking care of her but everybody wants to make money. Her children should have lecture her first on how to work herself in Western setting.
There are many things we do in Nigeria and people view it as normal but it is a crime in another Country. People see United States as a Country where you can work, make money and get yourself situated, that is true but at times if you don’t know how to do this right, you may end up in trouble.
I met a woman in the early 90’s she was doing the similar Health Care job for the mentally challenged people. It happened that at her work place, one of her client accidentally died and the government was about to make a case against the people who were working in that facility and this woman was included. She almost died of depression and her physique sudden changed because of fasting and prayer. I asked her what happened and she told me. I really felt for her but as God always works in a mysterious way, the family of the deceased told the Government they are not interested in any case, they just wanted to bury him. After narrowly escaping jail time, that woman never go back to that profession again. There are many people serving jail time for minor offenses which could not have carried any jail term but because they were just unlucky.
In Nigeria, it is usually the thick pap and not watery milk that is used. And when being applied, the baby is raised up and allowed to breath at regular intervals, then the feeding continues. The pap is never watery enough as to choke the child and you dont hold the nose for too long.
I can only wish our Nigerian people drop some of these believes…if baby can not eat don’t force them. My friend gave birth she had to called a naija baby bather to come birth the baby with palm oil i was too scared only praying for the baby not to sniff in the oil.I never bathe my son with bath oil and he don’t even smell . The way they take of new born in Western world is different from our Africa
Princess Kehinde Aderemi
May 9, 2019 at 5:38 AM
I think force feeding is too aggressive. The baby died because she’s not used to it.
This grandma should have been warned by her kids that this is America and not Naija
Nifemi Brooklyn
May 9, 2019 at 5:40 AM
Dis is very similar to a case that happened to my mom in 2016. I caught her force feeding a friend’s baby , I warned her immediately and she stopped. Who knows she could have been in jail by now.
Warning to all Nigerians, warn your mum about this kind of it before you bring her in
Gertrude
May 9, 2019 at 9:44 AM
Irony wud hv been d case if d child were to b a Nigeria kid…….. Rip baby, mama hv learnt her lesson in a such a hard way
DB
May 9, 2019 at 10:49 AM
Whether in Nigeria or America or even Jupiter, force feeding is WRONG. If you do it, please stop it. The disadvantages far outweigh the benefit. Those older generations had too many wrong practices and blamed the consequeces on witchcraft. One of such is this force feeding of a thing and when a child dies because of it, they will call tha child an ogbanje. Too bad this old woman put herself in this kind of mess.
iron bar
May 9, 2019 at 11:37 AM
wickedness.
uzoma
May 9, 2019 at 1:52 PM
The practice of force feeding should be abolished in Nigeria. I witnessed it a lot in Nigeria but that did not lead to death because those grandmothers and mothers mastered the art. Though Mrs. Adeleye did not intend to kill the baby, the practice this time proved costly.
Jilo
May 9, 2019 at 5:57 PM
It is so sad that this woman will have to spend the rest of her entire life in prison. I can’t figure out how her children will feel by bringing their mother into the US and watch her spending her last days of life in prison. They would have preferred her sitting at home and taking care of her but everybody wants to make money. Her children should have lecture her first on how to work herself in Western setting.
There are many things we do in Nigeria and people view it as normal but it is a crime in another Country. People see United States as a Country where you can work, make money and get yourself situated, that is true but at times if you don’t know how to do this right, you may end up in trouble.
I met a woman in the early 90’s she was doing the similar Health Care job for the mentally challenged people. It happened that at her work place, one of her client accidentally died and the government was about to make a case against the people who were working in that facility and this woman was included. She almost died of depression and her physique sudden changed because of fasting and prayer. I asked her what happened and she told me. I really felt for her but as God always works in a mysterious way, the family of the deceased told the Government they are not interested in any case, they just wanted to bury him. After narrowly escaping jail time, that woman never go back to that profession again. There are many people serving jail time for minor offenses which could not have carried any jail term but because they were just unlucky.
OKUNAIYA OLUBUNMI
May 9, 2019 at 6:12 PM
In Nigeria, it is usually the thick pap and not watery milk that is used. And when being applied, the baby is raised up and allowed to breath at regular intervals, then the feeding continues. The pap is never watery enough as to choke the child and you dont hold the nose for too long.
omolabake Agunbiade
May 10, 2019 at 4:45 AM
I can only wish our Nigerian people drop some of these believes…if baby can not eat don’t force them. My friend gave birth she had to called a naija baby bather to come birth the baby with palm oil i was too scared only praying for the baby not to sniff in the oil.I never bathe my son with bath oil and he don’t even smell . The way they take of new born in Western world is different from our Africa
Fifelomo
May 10, 2019 at 10:57 AM
Hmm, feeding got wrong. Rip lil soul.