Associated Press
LAGOS, Nigeria -- The kidnapped father of Chelsea midfielder John Obi
Mikel was freed Monday after detectives traced him to a sprawling city
in northern Nigeria and arrested his abductors.
Federal police spokesman Olusola Amore told The Associated Press that
investigators followed Michael Obi's trail from central Nigeria's
Plateau state to Kano, one of the nation's largest cities. There,
officers raided the area where Obi was held, freeing him and arresting
a number of kidnappers.
London-based Sport Entertainment & Media Group, Mikel's management
company, confirmed Michael Obi's release.
"Earlier today, Michael Obi called his family to advise them that he
had been released by his abductors. (We) have waited until now to
release this information to ensure that Michael was safe," the
statement issued Monday night said.
Michael Obi was kidnapped on Aug. 12 while on his way home from work
in the central Nigerian city of Jos.
Nigeria, an oil-rich country of 150 million people, is almost evenly
split between Muslims in the north and the predominantly Christian
south. Plateau state, in Nigeria's fertile central belt, has seen
thousands die in recent years in religious and ethnic violence rooted
largely in political and economic issues.
Mikel's family, from the Igbo tribe, is in the minority in the area.
However, John Obi Mikel said the kidnapping shocked him because his
family never had any problems there before.
Kidnappings in Plateau state are a rarity when compared to Nigeria's
oil-producing southern delta, where militants and criminal gangs often
kidnap foreigners for ransom. Middle class Nigerian families also
increasingly find themselves targeted in the country's East as well.
It isn't the first time a soccer player's family has been targeted in
Nigeria. In 2008, gunmen abducted the younger brother of Everton
defender Joseph Yobo as he left a nightclub in Port Harcourt, the
delta's largest city. The brother was released unharmed about two
weeks later, though it was unclear if a ransom had been paid.
Michael Obi's abduction came after a Forbes magazine survey in June
listed Mikel as the seventh highest-paid African player in Europe. The
magazine listed Mikel's salary as $5.8 million a year.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
