The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has recounted how his wife, Unoma, survived a six-month coma after an operation went wrong at a hospital in Germany.
Akpabio, who said his wife was placed on life support and had been considered almost dead, attributed her eventual recovery to divine intervention after he prayed for her and sought the intercession of St Padre Pio.
The Senate President made the disclosure during a visit to the Prayer Ground of St Padre Pio at St Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.
According to a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, Akpabio visited the site to offer prayers for Nigeria, his family and the country ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Recalling the ordeal, Akpabio said his wife remained in a coma for six months following complications from an operation.
He said, “My wife was in a coma for six months in a hospital in Germany. She was 98 per cent dead. I used the picture of Pio to make a sign of the cross on her, instead of taking 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, to date, is yet to understand what happened. As someone who has experienced the powers in which I am standing, I can understand it more than anyone else.”
Akpabio disclosed that his wife spent additional months recovering after regaining consciousness, noting that she initially struggled to remember him and their children.
He said the visit to St Padre Pio’s prayer ground was also to express gratitude for her recovery.
“This is my 10th time here. When my wife was finally discharged from the hospital, she waited for three months before she could remember my name and those of the children.
“We are here today to give thanks to God and to thank Pio for always interceding for us,” he said.
The Senate President also said he and other Nigerians who visited the site prayed for peace and an end to banditry and terrorism in the country.
He described the prayer ground as holy and said his personal experience had deepened his faith in the intercession associated with St Padre Pio.
“We are all from Nigeria. We came to offer prayers and get blessings from God for ourselves, our families, and our dear country that is currently being ravaged by banditry and terrorism.
“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,” Akpabio said.
He added that he had honoured the memory of Padre Pio through his family and philanthropic activities, including giving one of his sons the baptismal name Pio and establishing the Pio Football Academy.
Akpabio’s visit comes as preparations for the 2027 general elections gather momentum, with insecurity remaining one of the major concerns raised about the country’s political and social environment.
