By George Ozalla
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has offered prayers for an end to banditry and terrorism in Nigeria and for peaceful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Akpabio offered the prayers during a visit to the Prayer Ground of St. Padre Pio at St. Giovanni Rotondo in Italy, where he said he had gone with others to seek God’s blessings for themselves, their families and Nigeria.
Speaking to St. Padre Pio TV/Radio in Italy, the Senate President said the delegation used the opportunity to pray for the country at a time when Nigeria is facing security challenges arising from banditry and terrorism.
“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,” Akpabio said.
He said the visit also provided an opportunity for them to place their intentions before God through the intercession of St. Padre Pio.
“We are here on this prayer ground and we are going home fulfilled, that we were able to touch this Holy ground, drop our intentions which he will take to God on our behalf,” he said.
Akpabio described the prayer ground as a holy place and expressed satisfaction with its preservation.
“I am very impressed that the place has been well kept. This is a Holy ground. Some people who are here might not even understand the significance of this ground but those of us who are adherents and followers of Pio, believe in his intercessions,” he said.
The Senate President also recounted what he described as a personal experience that strengthened his faith in the intercession of St. Padre Pio.
He recalled that his wife, Mrs. Unoma Akpabio, spent six months in a coma in a hospital in Germany following complications from an operation which, according to him, had gone wrong.
“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,” he said.
According to Akpabio, his wife subsequently regained consciousness in what he described as a miraculous recovery.
“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 to St. Giovanni Rotondo was also part of his family’s thanksgiving, noting that it was his 10th visit to the prayer ground.
He said his wife, after eventually being discharged from the hospital, required another three months before she could 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.
The Senate President further disclosed that the family honoured St. Padre Pio by giving their son Pio as his baptismal name.
He also said the family established Pio Football Academy in memory of the saint, where children from poor backgrounds are trained and offered scholarships from the age of nine through university level.
“May his soul rest in perfect peace,” Akpabio said.
