by Jenni Horn
jhorn@thekmgroup.co.uk

Delta Ayonmike speaks to her father every day. He reads her a story before she goes to bed.

These loving fatherly tasks have to be carried out by phone, across thousands of miles.

Four-year-old Delta is at home in Chatham with her mum Sarah while dad Itse is in Nigeria.

She has only seen her father twice as he fights to be allowed to return to Britain to live with his wife and daughter.

Itse, 36, fled Nigeria in 1994. His father was a member of parliament, which meant Itse and the rest of his family were under constant threat.

After his aunt’s assassination, Itse decided to come to the UK, where his mother was already living, to seek political asylum.

But he was refused a visa and spent the next 10 years trying to fight to stay in this country. While he waited for appeal after appeal to be decided, Itse found work and met his partner Sarah.

But in 2005, when Sarah was four months pregnant, Itse was sent back to Nigeria.

After Itse was deported Sarah struggled to cope on her own; she lost her job and had to sell her flat.

The couple decided they would wait for her to get her finances in order before getting married and applying for another settlement visa.

Sarah, 31, of Maidstone Road, said: “We got married two years ago in Nigeria. This was only the second time Delta had met her dad, the first was when she was nine months old. Our wedding day was the last time I saw him.”

Itse had his latest application interview in August but the couple have just been given the devastating news that it has once again been declined.

They must now wait for an appeal hearing, which could take months.

Sarah added: “We are flying out to spend Christmas with him. It will be the first time Delta has spent Christmas with her dad.

“Itse calls every day and reads Delta a bedtime story so they have a strong bond. But he has missed everything; her first words, her first step and her first day at school.

“Delta’s wish is always that her daddy can come home. Whenever she finds a dandelion or blows out the candles on her birthday, that’s what she wishes for.”