Mikel John Obi’s father kidnapped: Former Chelsea star reveals trauma of playing Nigeria World Cup game hours after finding out news

AFP/Getty Images

Nigeria captain Mikel John Obi has revealed he found out his father had been kidnapped just hours before their final World Cup group stage game against Argentina, and that he would be shot dead if he reported it.

The former Chelsea midfielder played the full 90 minutes in St Petersburg, having found out en route to the stadium.

Mikel told the Guardian how he was ordered to pay a ransom and then, after deciding to play, told no one in Nigerian Football Federation, partially out of fear of distracting them ahead of such a crucial game.

Nigerian authorities secured the release of Pa Michael Obi after a week of torture, and he is now in hospital receiving ‘emergency treatment’.

In Pictures | Nigeria vs Argentina, World Cup | 26/06/2018

1/30

“I played while my father was in the hands of bandits,” Mikel told The Guardian.

“I had to suppress the trauma. I took a call four hours before kick-off to tell me what had happened.

“I was emotionally distraught and I had to make the decision about whether I was mentally ready to play. I was confused. I did not know what to do but, in the end, I knew that I could not let 180 million Nigerians down. I had to shut it out of my head and go and represent my country first. I could not even inform the coaches or NFF staff and only a very tight circle of my friends knew.”

He continued: “I was told that they would shoot my dad instantly if I reported to the authorities or told anybody. I also did not want to discuss it with the coach [Gernot Rohr] because I did not want my issue to become a distraction to him or the rest of the team on the day of such an important game. As much as I wanted to discuss it with the coach, I could not.

“Thankfully, my father was safely released on Monday afternoon. I thank the police authorities for their rescue efforts and the support I’ve received from friends and family members. Unfortunately, my dad is now in hospital receiving emergency treatment as a result of the torture he received during his capture.”

This is not the first time Mikel’s father has been kidnapped, having endured a similar ordeal in 2011, being kidnapped while at work when the midfielder was at Chelsea in 2011.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in