John Abba, Nigeria

During Mass, a car smashed through the wall of a church in north Kaduna, Nigeria and John Abba who was in the choir was blinded in one eye and covered in shrapnel wounds in the bomb blast that followed.

“They thought I would never see again but here am I looking at you. They thought that they could do away with us but we are still standing, giving thanks to God.” ACN is supporting the faithful in Nigeria as they carry the cross of persecution.

“We were kneeling down. The priest was about to raise the host and say ‘This is the Lamb of God’ when we heard a car smash through the wall outside the church. Then there was a huge explosion and I lost consciousness.”

John Abba describes the moment in October 2012 when a suicide bomber targeted his church of St Rita’s, north Kaduna.

ACN met John alongside seven others in a choir maimed for life by the attack. Some had lost an eye, others had shrapnel wounds. John said: “People thought I was dead. I was lying in a pool of blood. They shouted my name and thought it was a miracle when I responded. “I could not see at all. The doctors told me mine was a hopeless case. But I never stopped trusting in God.