A Nigerian prince who fell in love with England gave up his royal duties and spends his days fixing water leaks in London.

Akeem Adenuga, 62, is a prince from the state of Lagos, Nigeria. His brother King Asunmo Aderibigbe Adenuga, is The Paramount Ruler of Odo-Ayandelu.

The royal moved to the UK in 1994 and had planned to return to Lagos after his studies. But he fell in love with the country and decided to stay. Six years later, he became a trainee leakage technician at Thames Water.

Prince Akeem - a married father-of-five who lives in Tottenham - now runs a team of 24 engineers who work to find and fix hidden underground leaks across London.

Enfield Independent:

King Asunmo Aderibigbe (left), with his wife Olori Abimbola and Prince Akeem. Photo: Thames Water

He said: “I really look forward to coming to work, and I’m always raring to go out and get stuck into work in the streets of the capital. I love my job, and the people I work with really make it special.

“That’s why it’s so important to me that I look after my team – health and safety is my top priority. It gives me joy every day when they all get home safely.”

One of Prince Akeem’s recent successes includes plugging a leak which was losing three million litres a day in Guildford Street, near Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Enfield Independent:

Prince Akeem with his wife Princess Olamidun Adenuga. Photo: Thames Water

The Nigerian royal remains connected to his home town of Agbowa-Ikosi as he visits twice a year with his family. In 2017, he and five friends donated £19,000 for an ambulance to take patients to the nearest hospital which is an hour away.

He added: “As a prince back home, my family gets a wonderful welcome every time we visit. But I always remember the advice my late father gave me many years ago – be humble, kind and productive. That’s a really god way to live and has always carried me through.”

Thames Water is spending more than £1 million a day to reduce leaks on the underground network of pipes. It has uncovered more than 70,000 water leaks in the last financial year.