By Onochie Anibeze
IT once happened to our own Daniel
Amokachi.Voodoo men performed
some magic and Amokachi believed
them.
How Amokachi was charmed, conned
He had been injured while still
playing in Europe. It was such a bad
injury that playing football again
seemed difficult. It was at this time,
shortly after the 1998 World cup in
France, that the Voodoo men asked
Amokachi to place an egg in a white
handkerchief and crush it. He did and
pieces of metal emerged from this
action. The Voodoo men told
Amokachi that what he had in his
hand were the replica of what were in
his knee and that detractors conjured
them into his body.
And they told him that sacrifices
would have to be made to heal his
knee so that he can begin to play
football again. The sacrifices
included parting with money and cars
which would be used to appease
some gods. He was also to buy
goats and fowls for more fetish
injunctions. And so began the
swindling that cost Amokachi, the
Bull of Nigerian football, hundreds of
thousands of dollars he earned
playing top class football in Europe.
It was a sad chapter in his life.
It can happen to anybody, Daniel
retorted when asked in an interview
with Vanguard how he could be so
tricked with his tremendous exposure
at home and abroad. I bought the
egg and handkerchief and they just
asked me to crush it and when I did,
pieces of metal appeared on my
palm. It was difficult not to believe
them, he explained, repeating it can
happen to anybody if you knew how
magical they were.
Well, Amokachi lost so much money
and materials but God has helped
him recover mentally and otherwise
from the con men. And if Amokachi
knows what Togos Emmanuel
Adebayo is going through at the
moment he would be praying for him
to first escape from the hostage of
his sorcerer before the question of
recovery can even arise.
Adebayo too,
The big news from the British media
a few months ago was that of
Adebayo ostracising his mother,
Alice, and accusing her of some kind
of witchcraft that has affected his
scoring prowess. The world was
shocked but it was no shame to this
man who has played for Arsenal,
Manchester City, Real Madrid and
now Tottenham and who, going by
his age, should naturally be waning
in his marksmanship.
But the con men made him believe
his mother was responsible. And he
accused her publicly. He had netted
two goals in 12 outings for
Tottenham before he went gaga with
his accusation.
My brother has been brainwashed
Kola Adebayo
Last November, his elder brother,
Kola, 42, a truck driver in Germany
had to address the media in Europe
to regret that Emmanuel had been
brainwashed by Muslim alfas who
told him that our mother was behind
his inability to score goals. Kola
said that it was shocking that
Emmanuel believed them. And rather
than Adebayo struggling to return to
shape he allowed himself to be
overwhelmed by an imaginary fear of
witchcraft.
Adebayo has not even been playing,
what more scoring goals. He is more
busy fighting imaginary spirits than
struggling to return to shape and
take up his place. And the fight
against the said spirits is costing him
money. How helpful it could be for
an Amokachi to reach out to this
player who, in his own right (apology
Atahiru Jega) should be one of the
soccer ambassadors from Africa.
Later Adebayo said that his sister,
Maggie had also joined the mother in
hurting him spiritually. The Muslim
alphas (spiritual men), Kola said,
convinced Adebayo that Maggie and
their mother were using juju on
him. The Adebayos are of Yoruba
ethnic group in Togo. Alice who is in
her 60s has remained heartbroken.
Everyday she is crying, Kola told
the Sun on Sunday. Adebayo doesnt
give a hoot and was said to have
sent her mother packing from the
house in Togo.
He has a mansion in Accra, Ghana,
too and spends more time there than
in Togo during holidays. He was to
tell Peace FM, a radio station in
Ghana, his second home they say I
sacked my mother from the house
but its not true. She decided to
leave. How am I going to be in touch
with my mother if she is the one
telling everybody that my work will
not go forward? So, Ill just be on my
own and do my thing. They (his
mum and sister) should stop talking
and they should stop doing juju on
me. They should leave me alone.
Fans stunned
Fans in Togo and Ghana are stunned.
Even in UK officials are embarrassed.
Even his club manager appears to be
avoiding him. Which manager, in
these modern times, would field a
player who would blame witchcraft
for his inability to score goals rather
than his own performance? Adebayo
is simply losing it. And he appears
to be getting every foot wrong.
Elections will soon hold in Togo and
the clamour for change is high.
Emmanuel Adebayo has been
campaigning for the incumbent
President and very blunt about it,
insisting that President Faure
Essozimna Gnassingbe must win.
Gnassingbe became President in
2005. He took over from his father,
President Gnassimgbe Eyadema after
he served as minister for two years.
In Togo, the feelers indicate that
there may be a change if the
elections are free and fair. Again,
Adebayo doesnt give a hoot. He is
now more in the news for
controversial things than the football
the former African Footballer of the
Year is known for.
Unrepentant Adebayo
Months after the Juju episode broke
out in Europe and in Togo, Adebayo
has not changed. We sought sources
to feed us with more on this African
star and were lucky. A family friend
of Adebayo told us more about the
outrage from Togo. It is a stunning
account of a drowning player who
needs help if not to revive his
football at least to live and enjoy his
hard earned money before the
swindler appropriates all and renders
him a wreck.
Inside account from a family source
Its amazing that Adebayo could
think that her mother who prayed and
protected him till he became a man
and star would work against him. Its
amazing that when age was on his
side and he was a super star,
banging in goals, he did not think
that his mother could harm him. Why
must it be now that he is ageing?
What would a mother gain by
harming her own son? Adebayo is
unbelievable. The mother rides on
Okada (bike) but he bought a car for
a comedian in Ghana.
The mother is suffering and he
doesnt care. She is poverty-stricken.
He doesnt help anybody in his
family. The voodoo man told him that
any money he spends on his family
would be used against him. He
believed this nonsense. When Peter,
his brother fell sick they needed
financial help.
Adebayo did not send a penny, not
even when they needed about $100
or $200 dollars to carry out tests.
The boy eventually died and when
Adebayo wanted to attend the funeral
the whole family refused. They didnt
want him to attend. Outsiders begged
and he was allowed to attend.
He came there and watched as if it
was a football match. He never
contributed a dime. They told him
any money he spent would haunt him
and he just came to watch and leave.
It was unbelievable. He has declared
war on his family. It is sickening. His
younger brother Rotimi plays for a
third division here in Togo and begs
to do laundry job at the club to
survive. And thats the brother of a
man who earns thousands of pounds
a week.
The voodoo man has completely
changed his mentality. He is under a
spell. And the voodoo man boasts
about his control of the so called
super star. He once boasted that he
could command Adebayo to stay in
one place and when people doubted
him he lured Adebayo to visit him. He
did and he asked him to stay in one
room and never to step out. After
long hours Adebayo was begging
that he was hungry and needed to go
fetch some food. People around were
amazed that it was the same
Adebayo that they see on television
as a super star that was being so
easily manipulated.
Once, the voodoo man kept a live
snake in one corner of Adebayos
house and informed Adebayo that the
spirits told him that his mother had
sent a snake to his house as an act
of witchcraft. The man took Adebayo
to the corner and when they truly saw
a snake there, Adebayo believed that
it was his mum that sent the snake
after him. The juju man had actually
confided in one man on what he did.
His house help had to leave
because he was seeing many fetish
things in the house. He was afraid.
So Adebayo is in trouble and needs
help. But he does not want to believe
that he is being swindled. How can
his mother be against his progress?
It is even by the grace of God that
the woman is still alive. The
humiliation from her own child is
enough to end her life but God is
keeping her and she is praying to
God to rescue her child.
The voodoo man also uses
intimidation. He once threatened
Adebayo that if he went against his
orders he would become a cripple.
Adebayo cringed. That is the story of
Adebayo, the African superstar who
has told the world that his mothers
witchcraft was responsible for his
dwindling performance. A poor
innocent woman hopes that someday
her son will change and escape from
the grip of those who have held him
hostage.
Family affair
Foussena Djagba is in charge of
Adebayos domestic matters in Togo
and in Ghana. She has never
commented on the saga and our
contact was asked to reach her for
comments. Foussena said the
Adebayo affair was a family matter
that was being addressed at that
level. She bluntly refused to make
further comments. She also said that
she was no longer Adebayos
publicist.
Adebayo under Keshi
When my contact in Togo first told
me about the agony of Adebayo, I
was disappointed but not surprised
that the young man would be this
vulnerable to men who claim to
possess power through extra
ordinary ways. During the qualifiers
for the 2006 World Cup I travelled to
Togo to cover their match with
Senegal. Current Eagles coach,
Stephen Keshi, was Togos coach
and had guided them well in the
qualifiers.
Togo made it to Germany but Keshi
who piloted their affairs was
surprisingly disengaged and he did
not eventually take Togo to the World
Cup. The home match against
Senegal was one of his great
moments. They won 4-2 in a
dramatic match. The story on
Adebayo was while I was in Togo
was interesting. Once, he broke camp
rule, left camp on the eve of the
match and returned late in the night,
well beyond midnight.
Keshi had made up his mind to
decamp his captain and was
planning how to call a press
conference to tell the media what
Adebayo did and why he would not
play. Adebayo was said to have
pleaded with Keshi and informed that
his night outing was for the interest
of the team and that Keshi should
show great understanding. The night
outing was not for any social matter.
Adebayo exuded confidence in telling
Keshi that I went to guarantee my
goals and they assured me that I
would score two goals.
Keshi was momentarily speechless
and when he gathered himself
together he excused him and
dropped the sanction. Interestingly,
Adebayo scored two goals in that
match. Keshi was stunned and would
never forget that incident. Adebayo
scoring two goals could have been
coincidental and not by the power of
voodoo and Keshi tried to stay away
from their ways and concentrated
on his coaching.
But that incident during the 2006
World Cup qualifying games has
never escaped my memory. It
showed how Adebayo could be
swayed by fetish exercises. Many
years on I couldnt, therefore, be
surprised that he is being consumed
by the powers that he assumed
brought him fame more than his
God-given talents. Pity!