How ex-Eagles star, Obodo escaped from kidnappers in Warri

Former Super Eagles midfielder, Christian Obodo, who was abducted by gunmen in Warri, Delta State on Sunday, has narrated how he regained his freedom yesterday.

Obodo, who spent over a decade in Seria A, including spells with Fiorentina and Udinese, was abducted by gunmen along an airport road in Warri.

But he made a sensational escape from the suspected kidnappers.

Obodo was driving around the southern city of Warri on Sunday when he said two armed men forced themselves inside his car.

“They pushed my girlfriend out of the car,” he told AFP by phone, adding that a third gunman drove in a car behind them.

“I was praying and trying to hold a conversation with them asking them what have I done, but they barked at me and told me to keep quiet and that if I make any sound I was going to be killed.”

The 36-year-old, who was a regular in the Nigeria team between 2003 and 2008, described how they drove around town for several hours until the two men asked him to stop the car and stepped out to go and speak with their accomplice in the car behind.

“I looked behind and sensing a little ease, I sped off,” he said.

Police spokesperson Onome Onowakpoyeya confirmed that Obodo was briefly abducted and released.

“I wasn’t harmed in any way and nothing was taken from me,” Obodo said.

Kidnappings for ransom by criminal gangs are common in Africa’s most populous country, in particular in the oil-producing Delta region.
Obodo was abducted in the same area in 2012, and rescued a day later in a police raid.

Obodo was 17 when he moved to Italy in 2001 to play for Perugia. He later appeared for Fiorentina, Udinese, Torino, and Lecce before moving to Dynamo Minsk in 2014.