Joseph Yobo relieved to return to playing for Everton

While his fellow hostages were let go shortly afterwards, 12 long days passed before Nornu was finally released by his captors unharmed.

Yobo then made a belated return to Everton earlier this week when he joined up with the squad on their tour of the United States.

And the 27-year-old says: "It's nice to be back. It was almost two months away, and I'm just looking forward to the start of the season now.

"It's been a difficult time. But I'm glad now it's all over, I can put all that behind me and move forward.

"I guess it wasn't as bad as I first thought, but at the end of the day I never wanted to gamble with my brother's life. I have to thank everyone that's shown me and my family love and concern."

Yobo, speaking at Everton's hotel base in Denver, is articulate but understandably reluctant to go into detail about his brother's capture.

Three men have now been arrested for the crime, and the defender says: "At first, we didn't really know what exactly had happened because he was picked up in the middle of the night. We didn't know if he'd run into robbers or whatever.

"We were hoping that he hadn't been shot or wasn't dead, then a few hours later my phone rang and I spoke to him. It was a big relief to know my brother was still alive.

"He was released after 12 days. It was pretty difficult for me and I spoke to him a couple of times during it."

Port Harcourt, the industrial capital of Nigeria's southern oil-producing region, has suffered from a spate of kidnappings in recent times.

"It was a strange situation and was something to do with the street," adds Yobo. "I've been away from the area now for seven or eight years and I was very disappointed that such a thing could happen.

"That's where I grew up and that's where some of my family are. Home is always going to be home. I feel bad that it happened but I understood. I came up off the street, I know what it is like there.

"Because of this incident, I have to go back more often now, to the road where I came from. If I had been back home a couple more times, then maybe this wouldn't have happened. But you learn your lessons.

"My brother is fine, and that's the most important thing. But he was between life and death. It was very emotional, and psychologically it affected him when he was released.

"I haven't done anything wrong to the people there. Even now, I'm trying to help the younger people by trying to set up things with the government to help people on the street become somebody."

Yobo retains strong links with his home country. In 2007 he set up the Joseph Yobo Charity Foundation to help under-privileged children in Nigeria, with has subsequently handed out more than 300 scholarship awards.

The centre-back has also started a football academy in the Ogoni region of Nigeria and helps run football camps in Lagos.

And he says: "I use myself as an example. I came from the street, and if it hadn't have been for football maybe it would have been a different story for me.

"I was actually back there a few days before my brother was captured, meeting the government and companies to see what I could do to help the people there.

"Despite what's happened, I'll still go back and do what I have to do to help the people. A lot of other people on the street showed a lot of support to make sure my brother wasn't hurt. I just hope we can stop this kind of thing happening again."

Yobo also moved to praise the support of Everton and chairman Bill Kenwright in particular.

"It was very emotional to hear about the support I was getting from people at Everton. It's at times like this, when you are in a bad situation, when you realise more about other people and the love they show for you.

"It helped to hear about the support from the club and fans, and especially the chairman who, when people heard what had happened, was one of the first to phone me, and he kept in touch the whole time. I'm grateful for that."

Having missed a chunk of pre-season, Yobo is racing to be fit for the Premier League opener against Blackburn Rovers in a fortnight.

He made a late substitute appearance against Chicago Fire in midweek and will play some part when Everton complete their US tour with a fixture against MLS side Colorado Rapids in the early hours of Monday morning.

And with a final friendly against PSV Einhoven at Goodison next Saturday to come, Yobo is convinced he will be in prime condition for the season's start.

"I feel I'll be ready, because I didn't really have a proper rest this summer," he says. "I played five internationals for my country, and then I was running up and down trying to get my brother released. I didn't put on much weight.

"I'm back training now, I got 10 minutes on Wednesday and hopefully I can get some more on Sunday.

"After the PSV game next week, I should be very, very close to my fitness level. But I'm not too worried as there's still two weeks to go and I am sure I can be ready."

Of the new campaign, Yobo accepts it won't get any easier for Everton with their burgeoning reputation making them a team to beat.

"Every season is getting bigger and bigger," he says. "It'll be very tough because we've now got in Europe twice in a row now, and there'll be a whole lot of pressure on us.

"It's a different set of challenges now. We've done well in the last few years and other teams will be looking to knock us down."