Nigerian asylum seeker ‘spent 21 years sleeping on London buses’

The BBC has reported about a Nigerian man who spent 21 years sleeping on London buses.

Mr Sunny was said to have ‘found a safe haven aboard the buses that zigzag across London at night.’

And so began 21 years as a nomad on London’s buses, which Sunny quickly realised were safer and warmer than the streets started when his his request for asylum was refused.

Sunny had dared to hope for a bright future, safe under the protection of Her Majesty the Queen – that figurehead familiar from sun-faded colonial posters across Nigeria.

By day Sunny would volunteer at churches – he would attend several during his time in London. When his work was done, he would often head to Westminster Reference Library where he could catch up on the day’s news or pick up where he’d left off in the book he’d been reading

Sunny waits patiently, wind penetrating his well-worn jacket and the winter cold biting at his extremities.

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It’s past midnight and his legs are weary but he stands firm and smiles as the bus lunges to a halt, its wing mirror clipping overgrown branches on its way. He moves aside to let other passengers board, greets the familiar face of the driver with a gentle bow of the head and taps his weathered Oyster card on the payment point.

Relieved at finding his favoured spot at the back of the lower deck empty, he slides into place and gets comfortable for the long ride ahead. Sunny hugs his bag to his stomach, feels his wrinkled hands start to thaw, and closes his eyes.

It was a church minister, a woman of unwavering generosity, who first bought him a monthly pass to save him multiple nightly fares. She continued to do so, month after month, and other friends would chip in if she wasn’t around.

According to the BBC Sunny soon discovered the best buses for a good rest. There was the trusty N29, from Trafalgar Square to the northern suburb of Wood Green. But the 25 – which ran 24 hours – offered the longest uninterrupted sleep. In traffic, it would take two hours to get from central London to Ilford, in Essex, where – if he was really lucky – a driver might take pity and leave him sleeping on board at the terminus.

More often, the homeless passengers – maybe four or five of them – would be woken and turfed off until the next driver arrived.

Most were destitute women, British or African, who used the bus as a sanctuary from the threat of sexual assault. Laden with bags, they would be grateful for Sunny’s help lugging them on and off the bus.