Five Kano Pillars football players were wounded in an armed robbery on Friday afternoon, as the team made their way to their first game of the season.
The reigning league champions were travelling to Owerri for the start of the new Nigerian Premier League season when gunmen shot at their team bus, wounding five players.
The club announced via Twitter that the gunmen stole valuables from the players during the attack.
"I give God the thanks because we don't know what could have happened. I might not be talking to you now," Kano's central defender Reuben Ogbonnaya told BBC Sport.
"We were on our way to our first League match this season. We couldn't do anything at that moment. We couldn't run, we couldn't defend ourselves. The men were with guns. They collected our money and our phones.
"They asked us to come down [from the bus], then they said we should stay inside. They started shooting at that same point. Thank God no lives were lost. We are passing through pain - especially my captain. But the injured players are feeling a bit better than yesterday."
The wounded players are receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja.
Their match against Heartland that was to be played on Saturday has been postponed indefinitely.
Sam McEvoy
