Former Ghana football star, Nii Odartey Lamptey, has opened up about the profound emotional turmoil he experienced upon discovering that the three children he raised with his ex-wife, Gloria Appiah, were not his biological offspring.
In a recent interview with Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV on YouTube, Lamptey recounted the distressing moment he learned the truth, which drove him to the brink of despair and contemplation of using a gun in his anguish.
Lamptey, in the 10-minute-long video, revealed that the shocking discovery came in 2013 when DNA tests confirmed that he was not the father of the children, leading to his separation from Gloria Appiah. The revelation marked the collapse of their 20-year marriage and ignited a prolonged legal battle over compensation.
Reflecting on the harrowing moment, Lamptey shared how he had a gun in his car and considered drastic action but ultimately refrained after thinking about his future. “Yeah, I took that decision [to pull a gun], but God spoke to me and since then I haven’t touched my gun. The gun was in my Tundra, but I decided I would not do anything. I was broken, but I was very patient about it, and that has led me to where I am today. I believe it was God who spoke to me, and so I decided not to use my gun.”
The former Anderlecht and Aston Villa forward also touched on his past experience of being smuggled to Belgium with a Nigerian passport, as well as his legal victory in 2017. An Accra High Court ruled that Gloria Appiah had committed adultery and dismissed her claim to half of Lamptey’s wealth. The court ordered her to vacate Lamptey’s seven-bedroom apartment in East Legon but awarded her a four-bedroom house at Dome, a car, and Ghc200,000.
Lamptey emphasized the importance of controlling anger to avoid rash decisions that could have dire consequences. “I had to control my anger, otherwise I could’ve been in prison by now. And I wouldn’t have been able to have my three children. So, sometimes when you get angry, you have to think twice before taking action.”
Today, Lamptey is happily married to actress Ruweida Yakubu, and together they have three children.
