•Father, mother live in Benin
It is true but unbelievable that contrary to previous media reports, parents of Nigerian international and Chelsea forward, Victor Moses are still alive and residing in Benin, capital of Edo State.
In fact, they are hale, hearty and living peacefully and happily.
The local and international media had been awashed with the story that Moses’ parents Mr. Austine and Mrs. Josephine Moses were missionaries and were murdered during the 2002 riots in Kaduna when he was 11 years old.
According to the reports, Moses left his house to play football only to return home to see that his entire family had been killed by the rioters and all his parents had laboured for had been razed down and would never see them again.
The Chelsea ace had allegedly claimed his parents were among the thousands of people killed by rioters during the 2002 Kaduna riots, hence he came to England as an asylum seeker.
Sunday Express investigations can however reveal on good authority that Moses’ biological father is a former Nigerian international and Bendel Insurance football club of Benin star, Joseph Egharevba, elder brother to Peter Egharevba, also an ex-Bendel Insurance player.
According to authoritative sources very close to the player, he is a full blooded Benin boy who decided to hide his identity in order to get succour in England as a refugee and fulfill his dreams of playing the round leather game in Europe.
“Moses is a full blooded Benin boy and unlike people have generally been made to believe, his father and mother are here with us in Benin City. They are not only alive but hale and hearty’’, our impeccable source who does not want his name in print confirmed. He went on to narrate how Moses deceived the British government in his desperate bid to to stay in England and pursue his professional football career.
“The truth of the matter is that Moses was in the team that represented Edo State in an international youth competition held in London in 2002 and sponsored by the then Edo State Governor, Chief Lucky Igbinedion. Fortunately for them, they won the competition and became beautiful brides in London. It was a golden opportunity for his parents to ship him abroad, so after the competition, his father (Joseph Egharevba) allegedly made arrangement with his friend to smuggle him out of the team’s camp in order to make him stay in England permanently in case his six months visa expires. Incidentally for Moses, it was the year he arrived England that a lot of Nigerians lost their lives in the 2002 Kaduna riots, so he cashed in on it to seek asylum in England after he told them that his parents and all his brothers and sisters were killed during the riot. An English man called Mr. Moses we were told later adopted him as his son and that explains how he acquired his green card on a platter of gold and became a British citizen.’’
Another dependable source in Benin City corroborated: “Everything that Moses parents did were done in the best interest of their son’s future. I am happy they are beginning to reap the fruit at last. We noticed his talents while he was growing up here in Benin and we knew he was going to be a big hit if he gets the opportunity to play in Europe just like his father did during his active days with Insurance. I know the family in and out, we live in the same neighbourhood at Ugbowo GRA. Three of his brothers stay in Benin City with their parents -the eldest and the two younger brothers. The last boy who once captained one of the national Under-17 teams, is gradually following his footsteps and has even been tipped to become a bigger star than his brother. As a matter of fact, football runs in their blood. Moses comes home regularly and his parents visit him in London too. The last time he was around to visit them was last December so I wonder where the story came from that his parents are dead. I want to believe that it’s just a mere rumour which I am sure Moses himself is aware of because it was all over the place, including international media like CNN and BBC. At the same time, it baffles me that a famous Chelsea star like Moses has not publicly come out to confirm or deny such an embarrassing story in the media. I think there is more to it than meets the eyes. There is no smoke without fire’’.
Moses teamed up with Harris Academy in South Norwood on arrival in England, during which time he was scouted playing football in the local Trandridge League, where scouts from Crystal Palace approached him to join them and he gladly accepted the offer. He emerged to make his first team debut in 2007, before joining Wigan Athletic in 2010 for 2.5 million pounds and making 74 league appearances with eight goals. The brilliant performance of the 22 year old with the Latics eventually caught the attention of Chelsea who grabbed him for a fee believed to be 10 million pounds last summer.
The youngster had initially chosen to represent his adopted home of England featuring for their Under- 16, Under-17 and Under-21 national teams, before switching allegiance to his country of birth for his senior international career. He has netted four goals since making his international debut for Nigeria against Rwanda in Kigali on February 12, 2012 in an African Cup of Nations qualifier.
Moses who is a member of the glorious Chelsea side that recently won the Europa Cup played an integral role in helping Nigeria to win the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa, early this year and was listed in CAF’s Best XI alongside compatriots Vincent Enyeama, Efe Ambrose, Emmanuel Emenike and John Obi Mikel. He also won the “the Best Fair Play Player’’ award.
Meanwhile, the left footed attacking midfielder has been ruled out of the May 31, high-profile friendly with Mexico in Houston, the World Cup qualifying matches against Kenya and Namibia and the FIFA Confederations Cup as a result of a knee injury he aggravated during Chelsea’s last Premiership tie against Everton.
Several efforts made to reach Joseph Egharevba, Moses’ father to confirm or deny the story before going to press were futile.
No comments:
Post a Comment