Prince Harry and his wife Meghan concluded their three-day trip to Nigeria on Sunday, ending their visit in Lagos, the country’s economic hub, as part of their efforts to promote the Invictus Games for wounded military veterans.
The Duke of Sussex and his wife initially arrived in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Friday, where they attended a mental health school event and met with injured Nigerian soldiers in the northwest region.
During the final day of their visit, Prince Harry and Meghan participated in a basketball event organized by the Giants of Africa Foundation in Lagos, an organization dedicated to empowering youth through sports engagement.
The prince engaged in dribbling basketballs with children at the foundation’s exhibition event, emphasizing the transformative power of sports in uniting people and fostering community without any barriers.
Harry, a former army captain with experience flying helicopters in Afghanistan, established the Invictus Games a decade ago to support wounded veterans by involving them in sporting activities to aid in their recovery process.
In Abuja, Prince Harry also joined a seated volleyball match with Nigerian veterans, including Peacemaker Azuegbulam, a former soldier who lost his leg in combat in the northeast and made history as the first African to secure a gold medal at the Invictus Games in Germany.
Prior to visiting Nigeria, Prince Harry was in London on Wednesday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the games. His visits to the UK after relocating to the United States in 2020 consistently spark new speculation regarding a potential reconciliation with his family. However, during this particular trip, he did not have a meeting with his father, King Charles.
Nigeria’s military forces are currently engaged in combat with armed groups on multiple fronts. In the northeast, a long-standing jihadist insurgency has resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 individuals and the displacement of two million others since 2009. Although militants have been pushed back from previously held territories, they now focus on targeting convoys with roadside bombs.
In the northwestern and central regions of Nigeria, heavily armed criminal gangs, referred to as bandits locally, conduct large-scale kidnappings for ransom and launch attacks on villages from concealed camps deep within remote forests.
