Tanzania abductions: Activist Sativa tells the BBC how he was shot and left for dead

Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing.

In the wake of his abduction on a highway in Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam, social media activist Edgar Mwakabela, better known as Sativa, says he came close to death.

He describes in an interview with the BBC how, after kidnapping him on 23 June last year, his captors interrogated him and then ferried him across the country to the remote Katavi region near the Congolese border, more than 1,000km (600 miles) away.

Sativa says he was handcuffed, blindfolded and brutally beaten, including being struck repeatedly on his head, back and legs with the flat side of a machete.

"It was extremely painful."

He tells the BBC that those who abducted him wanted to know who was facilitating his activism, and why he was criticising the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, in power since 1977.

Sativa believes those who held him were police officers or other operatives linked to the authorities.

However, the government denies that it targets critics of the state.

Sativa says that on the fourth day after being taken, the violence continued as his captors transported him to the Katavi National Park, full of dangerous wild animals, and dragged him towards a river.

He believes it was clear that his captors had no intention of letting him live.

Then, he says, came the chilling order shouted from a vehicle behind them: "Shoot him!"

A trigger was pulled. A bullet went through his skull. His jaw was shattered.

Sativa's captors left - he thought he had been left for dead.

As October's general election edges closer, abductions have become more common, mostly targeting anti-government critics and opposition voices.