US places $25,000 bounty on fleeing Nigerian on murder trial

The United States of America has offered a $25,000 reward for anyone who could provide it with information that could facilitate the arrest of a Nigerian, Olalekan Abimbola Olawusi, who is reportedly facing trial for the alleged murder of his child.

PUNCH Metro gathered from a statement credited to the Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal, Don Freeman, and obtained from the agency’s website on Monday, that Olawusi has also been named among the 15 most wanted fugitives in the US.

Freeman noted that Olawusi, who lived in Rhodes Island, US, was arraigned on two counts bordering on first-degree murder caused by inflicting bodily injury to a child and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

He added that the incident occurred on April 3, 2017, after police operatives and firefighters found the three-month-old child and rescued him at the hospital where it was discovered that the child had suffered injuries in 18 parts of his body. The discovery was said to have led to the arrest of Olawusi. Upon his arrest, Olawusi was charged in court on April 20, 2017, but his whereabouts became unknown after he was released the same day while the trial was pending.

Freeman added that the infant died six months after being hospitalised as a result of the injuries he had allegedly sustained from his father’s abuse which prompted the prosecuting department to include a murder charge in the ongoing trial.

He said, “A man wanted in Rhode Island on charges of murder, inflicting serious bodily injury to a child and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution has been added to the U.S. Marshals Service 15 Most Wanted fugitives list with an up to $25,000 reward being offered for information leading to his arrest. Punch