The family crisis tearing apart Emmanuel Adebayor’s family has turned out to be a source of sadness for the Tottenham Hotspur player’s relations and kinsmen in Igbaye, Odo Otin Local Government Area of Osun State. The kinsmen in Adebayor’s hometown spoke to our correspondent on the burning issue.
A visit to the sleepy town by our correspondent revealed that the youths and some elderly persons, who are football fans in the town, are not oblivious of the quarrel tearing the family apart.
The footballer’s late father, Shadrach Adebayo Adeyi, hailed from Eesa compound, one of the largest families in Igbaye.
Residents of the town said they were up to date with the family’s misunderstanding on Facebook, expressing dismay at the manner in which it had gone public.
The famous footballer had reportedly accused his mother of witchcraft and claimed his siblings had wanted his downfall on Facebook despite helping them. His brothers and sister had also fired back through various media, slamming him for selfishness and neglect.
Relations said Emmanuel and his siblings were born and raised in Togo after their father left Ghana, when former Ghana President Jerry Rawlings drove illegal Nigerian immigrants out of the country. They said Shadrach chose to settle in Togo rather than return to Nigeria.
Shadrach, according to them, married a young lady from Ekusa, a community not far from Igbaye.
The couple raised their family in Togo and Emmanuel rose to stardom, but they said the recent daily postings on Facebook by the Tottenham player had become an issue of concern to them.
The head of the Eesa family, Pa Nathaniel Okunlola, told our correspondent that he and other members of the family wanted the siblings to reunite and move on with their lives.
Okunlola, who estimated his age to be around 103, said the player’s father died some years back and was buried in Togo. He said the family had cut their ties with their kinsmen in Igbaye but added that he would love to see them re-unite and return home.
Another elderly person in the family, Pa Ahmed Oyetayo, who is second in rank to the monarch of the town, said he was disturbed by the news of quarrels which had turned the family members to sworn enemies.
He said, “We are not happy about the development and we are appealing to them to stop the show of shame. I am sure their father, Shadrach, will not be happy in his grave. It is disturbing when siblings engage in this kind of dirty fight.
“There is no family where there are no issues but such issues are not made public. I believe it is the handiwork of the devil. The devil will always want to cause division where there is unity and they just have to realise this and forgive one another. They can still come together and forget the past.
“We do not know how their quarrel started and we won’t apportion blames but we are using this medium to reach out to them to stop this fight.
“Our family here in Igbaye wants them to come home and do something (to re-establish their father’s legacy). They can rebuild their father’s house. Their father, Shadrach, built a house here when he was living in Ghana. They can rebuild it or build their own. We are proud of them and even if they will not come, they should stop the fight. We are begging them in the name of God.”
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