Posted by 2018 saw the kidnapping of his father, Pa Michael Obi, and his driver, Ishaya John, as they traveled from Jos in a gray Toyota Prado jeep along the Markurdi-Enugu road.
Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, a Nigerian, has revealed that his father was freed from kidnappers.
He revealed that in 2018, he paid a “crazy amount of money” to free his father, Pa Michael, from the kidnapper’s hideout.
This was revealed by the football star during an interview with Dubai Eye 103.8 Sport.
2018 saw the kidnapping of his father, Pa Michael Obi, and his driver, Ishaya John, as they traveled from Jos in a gray Toyota Prado jeep along the Markurdi-Enugu road.
Mikel Obi, the captain of the Super Eagles in 2018, claimed that he learned of his father’s kidnapping four hours before Nigeria’s decisive World Cup match against Argentina.
While riding the team bus to the stadium in St. Petersburg, Mikel recalled getting the unexpected news.
He claimed that a family member had called and instructed him to call the kidnappers at a specific number. He was then told to pay a ransom.
He continued by saying that even though he was devastated by the news, he had to put it behind him in order to play the game.
“I had to decide whether or not I was mentally prepared to play while I was emotionally upset. I didn’t understand, actually. I was at a loss as to what to do, but in the end I realized that I could not let 180 million Nigerians down. To put my country’s interests first, I had to push that thought out of my mind. Only a small group of my friends knew, and I was unable to even tell the coaches or NFF staff.
“I was warned that if I told anyone or the authorities, they would shoot my dad right away. I also didn’t want to talk about it with the coach [Gernot Rohr] because I didn’t want my problem to distract him or the team on the day of such a crucial game. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to talk to the coach about it.
However, a few days later, at 2:30 pm in Enugu State’s Egede Udi forest, the police managed to rescue them.
“The kidnappers then began calling the families and demanding a N10,000,000 ransom, but the operatives acting on intelligence information swooped on them. Following a gunfight, the thugs were forced to abandon their victims inside the forest, where they were quickly rescued, according to a statement from the police.
A courageous Mikel Obi led the Super Eagles against Argentina four hours after speaking with the abductors of his father.
“They [the kidnappers] told us to listen, we know it’s Mikel, he’d pay,”. We’ll shoot his father if he doesn’t comply. They claimed they didn’t have anything to lose. My dad would be shot and dumped,” Mikel Obi claimed.
“It was terrible. I called them again after the game and made an effort to bargain with them. In the end, I still had to pay a ludicrous sum of money to free my father because they had been calling for a startlingly high price.
“I still go through it today. I had to talk to the guys on the phone even during flashbacks. He was being held at gunpoint. He would be shot and killed, they threatened. Although I’ve kept it a secret from them, a few months ago when they looked at my phone, they saw the news about it. Naturally, I haven’t told them about it since they are just 7-year-olds, but I will be able to tell them the story when they get older, he said.