Mikel John Obi vividly remembers the moment he was told his father, Pa Michael Obi, had been kidnapped for a second time.

Kidnappings for ransom targeting wealthy family members has become common in Africa’s most populous country and is seen by some criminal gangs as a lucrative endeavour.

The Nigeria and Chelsea soccer player told CNN Sport that he heard the news just two hours before he was set to play a World Cup game against Lionel Messi and Argentina at Russia 2018.

“Just like everybody else, I was excited going into one of the biggest games of my life, playing against [Lionel] Messi and Argentina,” Obi told CNN Senior Sports Analyst Darren Lewis in a recent interview.

“I was in my room getting ready, and all of a sudden, my phone started ringing and it was my brother calling … to say that dad has been kidnapped. I was like, ‘What, again?’”

Obi said it was “heart-breaking” to hear his father was undergoing such an ordeal for a second time in his life.

As Obi tried to process the news, he said he began “shivering” even though it was hot summer’s day in St Petersburg.

“I was sitting there thinking, ‘What am I going to do? Shall I tell the team? Shall I tell the players, tell the manager, tell the [Nigerian] FA?’” said Obi.

“‘What shall I do?’ Because this is the biggest game of our lives. So, I thought to myself, ‘You know what? I’m going to go out there and perform. I don’t want to let these guys [the kidnappers] win.’

“I am the captain. I’m the leader of this team and I have to go out there and be strong for the team and for the country. I decided not to tell anyone,” added Obi.

Despite pushing the Albiceleste to the limit, with a Marcos Rojo 86th-minute goal making the difference, Nigeria went on to lose 2-1 and Obi said that he felt like he “was going to fall down and probably collapse” during the game.

“I went out and performed. I remember in the game, a few times, I thought I was going to throw up. Emotions were running here and there.

“I didn’t know what I was thinking … about the game … about my dad … about my mom who was in tears … my family, my brothers, my sisters. Everybody was in tears.”

After the game, Obi says he told his teammates, the Nigerian Football Federation and the world’s media about the kidnapping, before negotiations began to get his father returned safely.

“I remember my dad saying to me, ‘They’ve got the gun on my head, son,’” said Obi.

“‘I’m an old man. I’m your dad, but you have to decide what you have to do. It’s the second time it’s happened. I know you could pay a huge amount of money to get me out and to make sure that I come home safely.’

“Of course, I want my dad back. It doesn’t matter what. I want my dad to be home,” added Obi, who in 2018 said the kidnappers had demanded 10 million naira (around $30,000) to release his father.

Through the help of the Nigeria Police Force, Obi’s father was eventually rescued. The Nigeria Police Force did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for more details about the 2018 kidnapping.

The first time Obi’s father had been abducted was in 2011 in Jos, the main city in Plateau State in central Nigeria, when he was on his way back home after work.

“It was a massive shock for me, for the family,” recalled Obi of that first kidnapping.