Another family member of England and Everton midfielder, Dele Alli, has refuted the claims made by the player that he was sent to Nigeria for ‘discipline’, by his parents at a very young age.
PUNCH METRO reported that Alli in an interview with Gary Neville stated that he was sexually abused at the age of six and was dealing drugs at age eight.
“Twelve, I was adopted and from then, it was like – I was adopted by an amazing family like I said, I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they’d done for me. If God created people, it was them”, he said.
While debunking the claims made by the midfielder, a family member, in an exclusive interview with journalists stated that Alli was never adopted.
“Dele was never adopted by anyone. At age seven, Dele attended one of the best schools in Lagos, Nigeria. He was never sent to Africa for discipline. That’s a blatant lie. He had a driver that picked him daily from school.
“We have all the documents and pictures of Dele with his dad from when he was born as a kid. Dele has been brainwashed.” said the family member.
The family member stated that Alli’s dad, identified as Kenny, worked as a tech engineer.
According to the family member,Kenny met Alli’s mum, Denise Alli, in a nightclub in the UK during his academic days. He got his Master’s degree at De Montfort University. After his academics, Kenny returned to Nigeria with Dele at age seven.
“We went to the UK from Nigeria with academic qualifications. We had to struggle, and I can tell you we are one of the pacesetters in IT in the UK. After finishing his Master’s, Kenny returned to Lagos.
“Kenny used to take Dele everywhere in Nigeria. We worked very hard to be who we are today. Nobody took him to Nigeria as punishment.” the family member revealed.
Several years later, while in Nigeria, Kenny remarried a Nigerian American named Omotola Alli. Following their marriage, Kenny and Omotola chose to relocate to the United States. Dele was 11 years old at the time.
“Kenny decided to take Dele to the mom in the UK, in anticipation that he will come for him when he settle in the State.” said the family member.
Further, the family member explained how Dele ended up with the Hickfords at the age of 13.
“Dele has always been a lover of football from birth. He was targeted by the Hickford’s family. Hickford Allan and Sally and their son Harry ( used to be Dele’s team mate and now his agent).”
Both Harry and Dele Hickford began their careers with MK Dons, however while Dele went on to become a professional footballer, Harry did not.
Sally and Alan, Harry’s parents, used to drive Dele and Harry to training and drop Dele off at his mother’s house afterward.
Denise speaking with the mirror in 2018 said: “When he was about 13 Dele began training at MK Dons five days a week. So for convenience he began staying at his best friend’s house during the week, before coming home at weekends. It was hard to let him live away from home, but we didn’t have a car and I was finding it hard to get him to training myself.
“It has been said that I was suffering from alcoholism and I gave him up because I couldn’t look after him, but that is a lie. I wanted to give him the best chance of achieving his dream, but he was still my son and I was there for him whenever he needed me.”
“On a particular Wednesday, Dele’s mom called Kenny that the Hickford family didn’t drop Dele as usual. Said the family member.
“Kenny immediately called the Hickford’s resident and they pleaded with Kenny to allow Dele spend the night with them, because they have a comfortable place and their son is good friends with Dele.
“Kenny agreed – not knowing the Hickford’s had a plan all along. Along the line, it now became every Wednesday affair. That’s how they started grooming him (Dele) to whatever they are doing.
“He was never sent to Nigeria for punishment. He said he started doing drugs at the age of eight, whereas he was in a private school in Nigeria by then.” The family member concluded.
