Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Enyeama escapes kidnapping

Vincent Enyeama came close to being abducted for ransom while on holiday in Nigeria.
Enyeama returned to Israel on July 14 to join up with his Hapoel Tel Aviv teammates for pre-season, and kidnappers broke into his house in Uyo a day later.

The would-be abductors asked for the goalkeeper, but met only his cousin and a friend at the house. The friend, whose name was given as Dan, was taken away, but released two days later at Ikono.

Enyeama was left thankful for his and his family's safety, he said, “I was led by God to send my family to Lagos to stay with my sister for the last week of the holiday, and I left Uyo a day before they came, but they took my cousin Tony’s friend. They released him on July 17 when they found out that he had nothing to do with us."

Fellow goalkeeper Austin Ejide also reportedly narrowly escaped being abducted this summer, as football players appear to have become targets for the kidnap trade in Nigeria's Niger Delta.

The first high-profile kidnap case involving a football star happened last summer when Nornu, brother of Everton and Nigeria star Joseph Yobo, was kidnapped.

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