Kingsley Ughelumba, father of Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey, has once again appealed for help to reunite with his four children, saying he has been separated from them for more than 18 years.
Speaking in an emotional interview, Ughelumba reopened his long-standing plea, attributing the painful estrangement to a rift between him and the children’s mother, Ebere Bassey.
Two years after he first went public with his ordeal, Ughelumba said he was still “dying in silence” and hoping for reconciliation with his children.
The native of Ihiala Local Government Area in Anambra State said his first three sons — Elvis Ughelumba, Mathew Ughelumba and Calvin, were born in Italy, while his youngest son, Michael, was born in Ireland. He said the family briefly lived together in London before marital issues led to their separation.
“We had husband-and-wife arguments. I went to work and before I returned, she had left with the children,” Ughelumba said in a viral social media interview.
“She only reached out in 2017 when my children needed Nigerian passports. I sent all my documents and bought all their flight tickets. When they stayed with me then, I never told them their mum did anything to me. She has muted me since he signed for a football club.”
Bassey, a graduate of Leicester City’s youth system, rose to prominence after joining Rangers on a free transfer in July 2020, making 65 appearances over two seasons and winning the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup.
In July 2022, he moved to Ajax for €23m, the highest transfer fee in Rangers’ history at the time, before signing for Fulham a year later for €22m.
The 26-year-old made his Nigeria debut in March 2022 during the World Cup play-off against Ghana and has since earned 43 caps, becoming a regular at the last two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Before establishing himself in senior football, Bassey was often listed under his father’s surname, Ughelumba, but later adopted his mother’s surname and has repeatedly credited her for supporting his career.
“He’s just not in my life, we lived with him, but that was when I was really young,” Bassey once said.
“Since I was six, it has been mum and us boys. I knew that if I got the chance to put my name on the back of a shirt, I wanted it to be my mum’s name, my way of saying thank you.”
Ughelumba said several attempts to reconnect since 2020 had failed.
“During COVID in 2020, I drove from London to Leicester when Calvin was playing there. I wasn’t looking for him because he was a footballer; I wanted to see my first son, but I had no access,” he said.
“When I got to Leicester City, the club welcomed me and called him. I used to call him ‘Biggy’ when he was small. When they called that name, he responded immediately.”
“I spoke to him and he gave me an address. When I got there and he saw me, he called his mum and afterwards he changed. He told me to say whatever I wanted to say and leave. He said he didn’t want to see me again and drove off.”
He added that he travelled from Italy to Abidjan during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations to try once more to see his son.
“During Nigeria vs Angola, a journalist helped link me with the football federation. They gave me tickets and I watched the match. After that, I went to Abuja to try again, but I still didn’t see him,” he said.
“Since then, I have been dying in silence. I don’t have any problems with my children, it’s just their mum that made me feel bad. Even if I am a devil, I can’t be a devil where my children are.”
As of the time of filing this report, the Fulham defender had yet to respond to his father’s claims.
Elijah Adeyemi
