The former General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Sani Toro, has narrated his ordeal with the kidnappers after spending 48 hours in the ‘wilderness.’

Toro, who was heading to Bauchi after an engagement in Abuja, was abducted along the Abuja-Jos road on Saturday, but he was released on Monday. It was gathered that the former football chief was accompanied in a car by ex-Golden Eaglets assistant, coach Garba Ila and a friend simply identified as Alhaji Isa when the incident happened, Premium Times reports.

He narrated his experience inside the jungle of Plateau State saying it was horrifying and unpalatable. Sani Toro said: “Our journey from Abuja was smooth until we got to the Forest of Kibo/Ryom area of Plateau State where these boys blocked our vehicle along with two other cars, ordered us out of the cars and marched us into the forest.

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“Most painful aspect was that this happened less than three minutes drive after a checkpoint of the joint military along the road in the Forest area. Our abductors were young Fulani men between the ages of 18 and 40 years. They harried us deep into the forest barefooted and whipped us if we slowed down. We walked almost all night under very unfriendly weather.

“The height of it was when we got to a big river and we had to cross it on foot. At that point, I thought we were going to die, but we had no option but to comply.

“It was deep and flowing but we managed to survive that by the grace of Allah. It was a close shave with death and it was an experience I don’t wish my enemies to go through. It was a very horrible experience and thank God we are alive to tell our story.”