Nigerian police have freed international footballer Christian Obodo unhurt and without a ransom paid in a raid following his kidnapping in the country's south at the weekend, authorities said Monday.

"He has been rescued and we have five suspects in our net as a result of it," Delta state police spokesman Charles Muka said, adding that police carried out a raid on Sunday night after trailing the kidnappers to their hideout.

The Italy-based midfielder was kidnapped by four men in Effurun in Delta state on Saturday morning near the oil city of Warri, where abductions for ransom occur regularly.

He was abducted in front of a church where he had gone to worship in his Bentley Continental car marked 'Obodo 5'.

His kidnappers had demanded a ransom of about $188,000.

Obodo, 28, is a Nigerian international midfielder who spent last season on loan at southern Italian club Lecce from fellow Serie A side Udinese.