After years of reading his daughter bedtime stories on the phone, Itse Ayonmike is finally able to wish her good night in person.
After a five-year wait the father from Chatham has been reunited with his wife Sarah and young daughter Delta.
Itse has been stranded in Nigeria after being deported when Sarah was four months pregnant. He was finally able to return home this week after the Home Office granted him a permanent visa.
It has been an anxious wait for the family since Itse won his appeal earlier this year.
Sarah, of Maidstone Road, Chatham, said: “I was lost for words when he walked through the door. Delta cried because she was so pleased to see him.
“The last few months waiting for him to come home have been very low and Delta has been quite nervous but when he arrived it was like everything just fell into place.
“It just felt natural to all be together. Delta slept between us on the first night because she refused to go to bed.”
Itse fled Nigeria in 1994. His father was a member of parliament, which meant his family was under constant threat of violence. When Itse’s aunt was assassinated he decided to seek refuge in the UK where his mother was already living.
But he was refused a visa and spent the next 10 years fighting to stay in this country. In 2005, as he and Sarah were looking forward to the birth of their daughter, Itse was sent back to Nigeria. Itse, 37, has only met his Delta a handful of times when Sarah has been able to save enough to travel to Nigeria.
He said: “Arriving home was overwhelming. I’m looking forward to getting to know Delta and finding out what she likes and just being a family. It is nice just to do normal things together.”
Delta says one of the first things she want to do with her daddy is go ice-skating.
She said: “I was really excited when he came home. I gave him a big cuddle.”