Former Ghana international, Nii Odartey Lamptey has said he once had a Nigerian passport with the name “Keshi Jnr.”
Speaking with Kent Mensah on Sunday Night on Asaase Radio, Odartey Lamptey said the late Nigerian footballer and coach, Stephen Keshi acted as his father to secure a passport.
He shared a chilling story of how he was ‘smuggled’ to Nigeria to meet Keshi; who assisted him to travel to Belgium to play his first international football with Anderlecht.
Narrating the story, he said: “…The Anderlecht scout contacted Stephen Keshi [who was playing for Anderlecht at the time] to come and look for me … So a gentleman came to me when I was in camp [in Ghana] and said Keshi sent him…
“About two weeks later, we had a break from camp and I had to go and look for Keshi [after a piece of advice from someone]. I went to the lorry station [because he had no passport; his passport was with the officials] to board a car to Nigeria.”
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“The driver had to double the fare because of my exceptional circumstance … in fact, I will not advise anybody to go through such experience; at every border, I had to alight and walk a distance to meet the vehicle at another point…it was a nightmare I don’t want anybody to through such experience,” Odartey said.
“So, when I got to Nigeria, I had a new passport with the name ‘Keshi junior’ with the late Stephen Keshi acting like my father.”
“I was with him in his hotel room and two people came to take my passport picture and within two hours I had a Nigerian passport…”
He added: “It was when I got to Belgium that I was able to change my passport to acquire a Ghanaian passport through the embassy.”
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