The father of Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has gone missing.
Michael Obi, who runs an interstate transport company in Jos, was last seen by his family members on Friday. He failed to return home after a day’s work and all calls to his mobile phone went unanswered before it was eventually unreachable on Saturday.
It is not yet clear if the Blues star’s parent has been abducted as no one has yet made a claim to have done so. The player was informed of the incident on Sunday morning ahead of his team’s visit to Stoke City where they played out a goalless draw.
“At the moment we have not heard from Mikel’s father, or anyone else, so we don’t know what it is. At this point, we only consider him missing,” John Ola Shittu, Mikel’s agent told KickOffNigeria.com.
“He is totally devastated. We were not sure whether to tell him before the game. But after speaking to the manager and Mike Emenalo (Chelsea’s sporting director), we agreed that he had a right to be informed of such a serious incident.
“He was under a lot of stress, but he showed a lot of character and mental strength to play against Stoke.”
If it is abduction, it will be the second time a major Nigerian footballer has been affected after national team captain Joseph Yobo’s younger brother Norum was held hostage for 12 days in 2008. —KickOff
