I Have Been Beaten While Sleeping Under Oshodi Bridge: Boy Who Won Lagos Chess Contest Speaks in Video

• A 19-year-old boy, Adeoye Fawaz, has said that he suffered a lot while trying to fend for himself as a homeless teenager
• The teenager left home following the demise of his mother and his other siblings had to stay with different family members
• Whenever he was not helping a driver to call passengers as an area boy or conductor, he was selling facemasks to make ends meet

The 19-year-old, Adeoye Fawaz, who won the Lagos chess championship has spoken in a video interview about his life under Oshodi bridge.

In an interview with The Punch, he said that he has been living outside for a long time. He revealed that he was once beaten up without committing any crime.

My new fortune is like a dream

Read also

Street boy who won chess contest gets extra GHc3k, accommodation promise from kind woman

He added that no one is to be blamed for the harsh realities he has faced, saying he took the decision to run away from home.

The teenager said that winning the competition still looks so unreal to him, and it was like a movie.

He added that he never believed he could ever know how to play chess because it is a game that tests great mental strength. According to him, he left Ibadan for Lagos when he was 16 years and just lost his mother.

How I became homeless

Fawaz stated that he had to leave his sister's place in Lagos state because they had a disagreement.

Speaking on how he has been surviving, he said that he relied on being an area boy and a conductor.

Sometimes, when he helped a driver to call passengers, he was given N100. He survived on N300 daily on many days.

Read also

Man who returned over Ghc162k passenger forgot in his taxi in Dubai gets certificate, many react

My side hustle

He temporarily made between Ghc22.54 to Ghc37.56 a day working for someone. The boy said he took a part of the money on some days to trade nose masks as a side hustle.

Fawaz revealed that when the Chess in Slum Initiative approached him, he never wanted to answer them because he did not know how the game was going to put food on his table.

Towards the end of his interview, he said people often talked down on him when he begged for food money.

Watch the video below:

YEN.com.gh compiled some of the reactions below:

oaklly_collections said:

"This is really touching, I love he’s way of reasoning. Helpers will locate you dear, likewise me also."

ayoquxibe said:

"MC Oluomo just lost one of his future recruit."

drconfidence said:

"He needs to be invested in, he is a very smart kid, by now I expected the government to do something about him atleast scholarship and a decent job for upkeep."

Read also

I was refused a room at a hotel just because I spoke fante - GH man narrates encounter

ronnie4christ said:

"I love his confidence! And God will make all your good dreams come true, my dear."

More goodies for Fawaz

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh earlier reported that more luck smiled on the teen bus conductor who won a chess championship organized by the Chess in the Slum initiative.

Following his triumph, a woman, Adebola Olubamiji, sent the sum of Ghc3,004 to the young boy to add to whatever sum he must have won.

In addition to that, the kind Nigerian also promised to get accommodation for him and take him away from the street.

Source: YEN.com.gh