[citation needed] Ikpeba was discovered by Belgian club RFC Liège during the 1989 FIFA U-17 World Championship, and moved to play in Belgium together with teammate Sunday Oliseh.

[1] Ikpeba played in Jean Tigana's talented Monaco side which famously put Manchester United out of the Champions League in 1998 on away goals after a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford.

Ikpeba scored only two goals in his first season in the Bundesliga and barely played in his second, after falling out with the coach Matthias Sammer.

[4] After leaving Libya and spending almost a year without a club, Ikpeba returned to Belgium, where he joined his former Liège coach at Charleroi.

After helping the club avoid relegation, Ikpeba came very close to signing with German side SC Freiburg,[5] but the deal fell through when it was revealed that the player had no EU passport.