© AP
Former Nigerian national team player Christian Obodo once again found himself in the crosshairs of criminals. The 36-year-old African was abducted and held in the trunk of a car for four hours, wrongly accused of poor performance for the national team. The misfortune befell Ch. Obodo when he was accompanying a man buying bananas, reported police representative Onome Onovawakpoyeya. Upon arrival, the criminals pushed the athlete's girlfriend away and forcefully took the former player into the car. Later, Ch. Obodo spent four hours locked in the trunk, while the criminals sent him curses, mentioning large sums of money lost in bets. "It was truly an unpleasant experience to spend so much time as a hostage in the trunk of a car. The kidnappers explained to me that they had lost a lot of money, speculating that Nigeria would score a goal in the second half against the Sierra Leone team. They did not harm me, and I cannot understand why this happened to me again," lamented the former professional, who also had an encounter with kidnappers in 2012. At that time, he was released by police after a day. Last Friday, Nigeria, playing in a qualifier for the African Nations Cup against Sierra Leone, led 4-0 after the first half, but the match ended in a 4-4 draw. Ch. Obodo spent the best years of his career in Italy, defending the colors of clubs like Fiorentina, Lecce, and Udinese.
