Footballer Mikel tells kidnappers: Let my father go

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has appealed for information on the whereabouts of his father, who has been abducted in his native Nigeria.

Mikel played in Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Stoke despite learning a day previously his father had gone missing on Friday.

Speaking yesterday Mikel said he and his family had yet to hear anything regarding his father’s whereabouts or who might have taken him, and he made a direct appeal for his father’s release.

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“Please just let him go,” he said. “He’s just an old man, he hasn’t done any harm to anyone as far as I know and I don’t know why he has been taken.”

Mikel, 24, was born in Jos and expressed surprise an incident like this had occurred in the town, saying that, although his fame made his family a target, abductions are uncommon in that area of the country.

“I think this happens a lot in the eastern part of Nigeria, but I think my dad will be the first this happened to in the north,” he said.

“It’s a very safe place where I live. That’s why they live there. There has never been a situation like this. It is very rare and surprising everyone.

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“We have lived there all our lives so I think definitely they know who my dad is and who his son is.”

Chelsea have offered Mikel their full support and it is not yet known whether he will be in the squad to face West Bromwich on Saturday.

Mikel did, however, confirm that he would remain in England for safety reasons.

“I think it is safer for me to be here,” he said.

He continued: “I would like to go (back) and see my mum and my other brothers and sisters.

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“If in the next 24 hours we get any information about where he is and what is happening to him, then we will know what we can do.”

Mikel is not the first Barclays Premier League player to have a family member abducted in Nigeria.

In July 2008 the elder brother of Everton defender Joseph Yobo was kidnapped in Port Harcourt.

Nornu Yobo was released after 10 days but it was never made clear whether a ransom was paid.

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