Court grants suspected kidnappers of Mikel Obi's father bails

 A court on Wednesday granted bail to two former soldiers and five other suspects charged over the August kidnapping of the father of Chelsea footballer John Obi Mikel.

Federal high court Judge Ambrose Alagoa granted the seven accused bail in the sum of 10 million naira ($63,000, 47,000 euros) each.

“Each of the seven persons standing trial on the three-count charge of conspiracy, causing bodily harm and kidnapping must provide a surety in like sum …,” Alagoa said.

The suspects had earlier pleaded not guilty in the court in the central city of Jos, the capital of Plateau state.

Michael Obi, father of the soccer star, was abducted in Jos — where he resides — on August 12 and freed 10 days later in a Nigerian police raid.

He had told the court that he was abducted by men who came to his house in a van dressed in army uniforms. He said the men forcefully took him to the city of Kano, hundreds of kilometres from Jos.

Both of the soldiers suspected of involvement have been dismissed from the army, an army spokesman said.

The court adjourned the case to March 8.