John Obi Mikel's Father Describes His Kidnapping

Now that John Obi Mikel's father, who had been abducted on August 12th, has been released from captivity, we can start putting together the pieces of what actually went on during the ten days between his abduction and the announcement that he was safe and sound. Details while the case was active were understandably sketchy and in some cases contradictory, but now we have some quotes straight from the horse's mouth to digest.

I started begging them but they beat me mercilessly. They kept me in a terrible place. I was taken right deep into the bush, in an isolated area in Jos. There are five of them and they were dressed in military uniforms. They pushed me into a vehicle painted in military colours and began to drive very fast. I never knew a vehicle can fly like that.

-Michael Obi, John Obi Mikel's father. Source: BBC.

If that sounds bad (and it does), just check out the picture the BBC took of Mr. Obi. The poor man looks awful. Any sympathy one might possibly have had for the kidnappers kind of vanishes when you see that they've been beating their captives, and one can only hope that they have the book thrown at them for what they've done. Four men and a woman have been arrested and charged with the crime - hopefully Mr. Obi and his family see justice. One would also assume that any ransom money that was paid in order to secure Mr. Obi's release has been recovered now that those allegedly responsible for his abduction have been apprehended.

The club have released a statement expressing their relief that Michael Obi has been found safely and praising Mikel's professionalism during the ordeal. The fact that he's been able to play through this has just been monumentally impressive.