BY AHMED AKANBI
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has sought divine intervention against banditry and terrorism in Nigeria and for peaceful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Akpabio made the call during a visit to the Prayer Ground of St. Padre Pio at San Giovanni Rotondo in Italy, where he joined others in praying for Nigeria.
Speaking to St. Padre Pio TV/Radio, the Senate President said the visit was to pray for the country, his family and other Nigerians at a time the nation is facing security challenges.
”We are all from Nigeria. We came to offer prayers and get blessings from God for ourselves, families and our dear country that is currently being ravaged by banditry and terrorism,” he said.
He described the prayer ground as holy and commended how it has been preserved, noting that followers of St. Padre Pio attach deep spiritual significance to the site.
The Senate President also recounted what he described as a miraculous experience involving his wife, Mrs Unoma Akpabio, which he said strengthened his faith in the intercession of St. Padre Pio.
He said his wife spent six months in a coma in a hospital in Germany following complications from an operation and was considered 98 per cent dead.
”My wife was in a coma for six months in a hospital in Germany. She was 98 percent dead. I used the picture of Pio to make a sign of the cross on her, instead of putting off the life-support machine she was on. She had an operation that went wrong. I cried to Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and called on Pio to intercede.
”Miraculously, she woke up. That hospital, up till today, is yet to understand what happened. As someone who has experienced the powers in where I am standing, I can understand it more than anyone else,” he said.
Akpabio said the visit marked his 10th time at the prayer ground and was an opportunity to give thanks for his family and his wife’s recovery, noting that after discharge, it took her about three months to remember his name and those of their children.
”We are here today to give thanks to God and to thank Pio for always interceding for us,” he said.
He added that the family honoured St. Padre Pio by giving their son Pio as a baptismal name and establishing the Pio Football Academy, which trains children from age nine through university and provides scholarships to less privileged children.