‘Chelsea were very supportive’ – John Obi Mikel reminisces on his father’s kidnapping

Ex-Nigeria international Mikel John Obi has shared details of what went down when his father was kidnapped and how Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic supported him.

Mikel’s father was kidnapped twice, the latest being the 2018 incident when the former Chelsea was representing Nigeria at the FIFA World Cup.

Although Mikel went on to play the match, which Nigeria lost 2-1, the former Chelsea midfielder revealed it was a tough moment for him.

He revealed that his teammates were shocked and could not comprehend it when he told them after the game against Argentina.

In an interview with TalkSport, Mikel revealed his father went through hell in the kidnappers’ den, stating they made him suffer.

“My dad got kidnapped while I was playing for Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“We were about to play against Argentina. Two hours before the game I got a phone call from my brother saying my dad got kidnapped.

“The first time he was kidnapped was shocking, but the second time was even more shocking because I was about to go into one of the biggest games of my life.

“My Dad was crying. Give them what they want. They’ve beaten me. I was 100% sure they were going to shoot him. He heard them say let’s just kill him. They were going to kill my dad.

“I couldn’t leave the room. I couldn’t tell anybody. I was alone in the room for about 30 minutes, thinking what am I going to do?

“But we’re about to go into the biggest game of our lives. We’re about to play against Lionel Messi and Argentina.

“Chelsea were very supportive. I remember Roman Abramovich saying ‘Do you want me to send people over? Because I know if I send people over, I can get your dad out’ — I was like, how are you going to do this?

“He said don’t worry about that. Just let me know if you want that option, I can do it.”