Landlord once disconnected my family’s electricity, removed roof over unpaid bills – Osimhen

Osimhen

Victor Osimhen has revealed more heartbreaking stories about his childhood as a poor boy growing up in Olusosun, a Lagos slum.

In a recent chat with Players’ Tribune, Osimhen revealed that, when he was 12, he watched the landlord disconnect the electricity in his family’s single-room apartment due to unpaid bills.

He added that his ageing father, who had lost his driving job at this point, had to wash dishes in a police department kitchen to earn a stipend.

The 27-year-old also said the landlord once tore down the family’s roof to force them out of the building.

“Most of the families in our neighbourhood resold scraps from the landfill, but my father was a driver when I was little. After my mom died, he lost his job and started washing dishes in a police department kitchen. It was not enough money to pay our rent,” the Super Eagles striker recounted.

I remember one night when I was about 12, the landlord had enough. He cut off the power to our apartment. We were sitting in the dark in one room — all 7 of us — no TV. Nothing. I went outside, and I sat down next to this gutter — literally, a gutter — and I started crying.

“Everything I earned, I gave to my siblings to buy food and pay the rent. Most nights, I actually slept in the church. Our house barely had a roof. It was starting to cave in, and so the landlord said, ‘OK, I’ll fix it. Don’t worry.’

“He sent some guys over, and they took half the roof off and never came back! (You know, I pray for everybody. I really do. Except for landlords. I always seem to forget them in my prayers.)”

In 2023,  reported how Osimhen grew up in Olusosun amid poverty while working menial jobs. Thecable