Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has shared the emotional story of learning his father was kidnapped just hours before Nigeria’s pivotal FIFA World Cup match against Argentina.
In an interview on The Obi One Podcast released Monday, Mikel revealed that he received a call from his brother informing him that their father had been abducted in Nigeria. This was the second time such an event had happened.
“Kidnappers love my dad,” Mikel said, “No, they love my money.”
With Nigeria gearing up for a high-pressure knockout game against Lionel Messi’s Argentina, Mikel faced a tough decision: Should he tell his teammates or keep the distressing news to himself?
“I didn’t want to let the team down. I was the captain. I thought about it in my room, and then I went out there and played the game,” he explained.
Despite the emotional turmoil, Mikel pushed through the game while dealing with threats from the kidnappers, who demanded ransom money.
“They called me, knowing I was going into the game. They thought it would force me to pay whatever they asked. They said, ‘We’re going to shoot the [expletive] out of him if you don’t pay.’ My dad was on the phone saying, ‘Just give them the money, they are beating me up,’” Mikel recalled.
After the match, Mikel contacted Chelsea officials, who alerted then-owner Roman Abramovich about the situation.
“Roman being Roman said, ‘Just give me 24 hours. Let me send my people down, and I’ll find your dad.’ I thought, how the [expletive] are you going to do that? Nigeria is a massive country. But he said, ‘Don’t worry about it, just give me 24 hours.’”
In the end, Abramovich’s offer wasn’t enough, and Mikel had to negotiate and pay a substantial ransom to secure his father’s release.
“I didn’t know, but I had to negotiate, and I had to pay a lot of money to get him out. But my dad was safe,” he said.
Mikel reflected on how the ordeal changed his life, noting that it made him mentally stronger.