Britain’s Prince Harry (R), Duke of Sussex, and Britain’s Meghan (L), Duchess of Sussex, arrive at the Lightway Academy in Abuja. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP)
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Nigeria to promote the Invictus Games for wounded veterans.
- During their visit, they focused on mental health advocacy and met with wounded Nigerian troops.
- Their trip included cultural exchanges and discussions with military commanders.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, visited Nigeria on
Friday as part of his promotion of the Invictus Games, the sporting event he
founded for wounded military veterans.
The couple arrived Friday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja,
where they visited a school to open an event on mental health for students
there.
Greeted by a drum and dance group from the Igbo ethnic
group, Prince Harry and Meghan toured the Lightway Academy, where pupils
welcomed them.
“If you take anything away from today, just know that
mental health affects every single person,” he told students, wearing a
traditional Nigerian bead necklace around his neck.
“The more you talk about it, the more you can kick
stigma away.”
Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrive at the Lightway Academy in Abuja on May 10, 2024 as they visit Nigeria as part of celebrations of Invictus Games anniversary. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP)
Britain’s Prince Harry (2nd L), Duke of Sussex, and Britain’s Meghan (L), Duchess of Sussex, look at people dancing as they arrive at the Lightway Academy in Abuja on May 10, 2024 as they visit Nigeria as part of celebrations of Invictus Games anniversary. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP)
Britain’s Prince Harry (R), Duke of Sussex, and Britain’s Meghan (L), Duchess of Sussex, take part in activities. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP)
Meghan joined the Duke of Sussex on the stage before they
left for a meeting with Nigerian military commanders as part of the Invictus
programme.
“I see myself in all of you,” she told the children to applause.
xcited pupils waved the couple off outside the academy.
“It was really cool. I just wanted to touch him,”
said student Nnena Edeh, 13, as the prince left the school. “It was really
inspiring.”
Prince Harry was in London on Wednesday to mark the 10th
anniversary of the games. As with all his trips to the UK since he moved to the
United States in 2020, his visit prompted fresh speculation over a
reconciliation with his family.
Harry, a former army captain who served as a helicopter
pilot in Afghanistan, founded Invictus in 2014. Since then, the games have
expanded, boosting rehabilitation through sports.
Last year, former Nigerian soldier Peacemaker Azuegbulam,
who lost his leg in combat, became the first African to win a gold at the games
in Germany.
Britain’s Meghan (L), Duchess of Sussex, and Britain’s Prince Harry (C), Duke of Sussex, speak with students at the Lightway Academy in Abuja. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP)
Britain’s Prince Harry (L), Duke of Sussex, and Britain’s Meghan (R), Duchess of Sussex, meet with children during their visit at the Lightway Academy. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP)
Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (1st row 2nd R), takes a selfie with students during their visit at the Lightway Academy in Abuja. (
Kola Sulaimon/AFP)
Nigeria’s military said on Thursday that Harry would take
part in a sporting event in the capital and also travel to Kaduna in Nigeria’s
northwest to visit a military hospital and speak with troops wounded in combat.
He would later travel to the country’s economic capital,
Lagos.
Nigeria’s military forces are battling armed groups on
several fronts.
A grinding jihadist insurgency in the country’s northeast
has killed more than 40 000 people and displaced another 2 million more since
2009.
In northwestern and central states, heavily armed criminal
gangs known locally as bandits carry out mass kidnappings for ransom and raid
villages from camps hidden deep in remote forests.
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