US grants asylum to 12-yr-old Nigerian chess prodigy, family

The 12-year-old boy chess prodigy, Tanitoluwa Adewumi and his parents who fled Nigeria over terrorism launched by Boko Haram fighters have been granted asylum in the United States, Washington Post reports.

Tanitoluwa Adewumi popularly known as Tani rose to stardom at age 8 for unprecedented chess skills and defeated 73 opponents to clinch the New York state chess championship for his division.

His family moved to New York in 2017, seeking religious asylum and was residing in a homeless shelter in 2019.

Having come to the limelight for breaking into the championship and being named a National Master with the current title of FIDE Master, a prestigious designation awarded by the international chess governing body, he emerged as a global chess idol.

Tani’s most pivotal feat, perhaps, will be the recent one of him and his family being officially granted asylum in the US.

Ingber assembled a team from Mayer Brown to work on the case, including lawyers Justin Perkins and Christopher Mikesh.