Prince Harry and his wife Meghan wrapped up their three-day visit to Nigeria on Sunday, arriving in the country’s economic capital Lagos during a trip to promote his Invictus Games for wounded military veterans.

The Duke of Sussex arrived with his wife on Friday in Nigeria’s capital Abuja where they visited a school event on mental health, in a trip that also saw the prince meet wounded Nigerian soldiers in the country’s northwest.

On day three of the visit, Prince Harry and Meghan took part in a basketball event with the Giants of Africa Foundation in Lagos, an organisation that helps youth through engagement in the sport.

The prince practised dribbling basketballs with children at the exhibition event for the foundation, which is run by vice-president of an NBA team Masai Ujiri.

“The power of sports can change lives, it brings people together and creates community and there are no barriers which is the most important thing,” the prince said.

Harry, a former army captain who flew helicopters in Afghanistan, founded the Invictus Games 10 years ago to help bring wounded veterans into sporting events to aid with their recuperation.

The couple later met with Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and also attended a Lagos fundraiser.“He has seen a lot and is still soaking in a whole lot,” the governor said of the prince’s experience of Nigeria.

Nigerian heritage

On Friday afternoon, Meghan sat on an event for women in leadership with Nigerian-born World Trade Organization director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, where the Duchess discussed her Nigerian heritage and being a role model to women.

“I want to start by saying thank you very much for just how gracious you’ve all been in welcoming my husband and I to this country,” she said to applause, before adding, “my country”.

“It’s been really eye-opening and humbling to be able to know more about my heritage and to be able to know, this is just the beginning of that discovery.”

In Abuja, the prince had also taken part in a seated volleyball match with Nigerian veterans, some of who were missing limbs from combat in the country’s north where troops battle jihadists and heavily armed criminal gangs.

On the Duke’s volleyball team was former Nigerian soldier Peacemaker Azuegbulam, who lost his leg in combat in the northeast, and became the first African to win gold at the Invictus Games in Germany last year.

Before Nigeria, Prince Harry was in London on Wednesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the games.

His trips to the UK since he moved to the United States in 2020 always prompt fresh speculation over a potential reconciliation with his family. But he did not meet with his father King Charles on this trip.

Nigeria’s military forces are battling armed groups on several fronts.

A long-running jihadist insurgency in the northeast has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced another two million since 2009. Militants have been pushed back from areas they once controlled, but they now target convoys with roadside bombs.

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.

AFP

One alleged notorious member of Boko Haram, simply identified as Alhaji Wosai, has surrendered to the Nigerian troops of Operation Hadin Kai.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, said Wosai surrendered to the army on Saturday.

Wosai was said to have escaped from an enclave of insurgents in Garno village in Borno state.

“It was gathered that the terrorist surrendered on May 11, 2024, to the troops of 21 Armored Brigade after escaping from the enclave of the insurgents in Garno village in Borno State,” the publication said.

“Intelligence sources informed Zagazola Makama that he surrendered with 1ak 47 rifle and 1 Magazine filled with 7.63MM 39 MM Special ammunition.

“The militant is in the military custody for profiling.”

In April, a Boko Haram fighter identified as Sajeh Yaga reportedly surrendered to troops of Operation Hadin Kai in Borno state.

He was said to have surrendered to the soldiers after he “sneaked out” from the terrorists’ camp in Sambisa forest.

He also reportedly relinquished weapons, including an Ak47 rifle, four Ak47 magazines, six 7.62 MM special ammunition, and three mobile phones to the troops.

1. Former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has said despite the fact that Nigeria is a complex country, it is not too difficult to govern. Obasanjo while commissioning presidential lodge inside Osun State Government House, Oke-Fia, Osogbo, alongside Governor Ademola Adeleke and former governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola on Sunday, May 12, noted that governance is easy when leaders are honest with their conscience.

2. Rivers State factional House of Assembly led by speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo, has invited a commissioner-nominee, Danagogo Iboroma, for screening and confirmation as a member of the state executive council. In a letter signed by the factional Clerk, Dr. G.M. Gillis-West, he asked Iboroma to appear before the House on Monday by 10 am.

3. Hoodlums at the weekend attacked a Police Station at Umabor, Eha-Alumona, in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, leaving two policemen dead. The hoodlums had earlier on Saturday evening attacked Police and Road Safety teams at nearby Orba community in Udenu Local Government Area of the state and reportedly left a policeman and one officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) dead.

4. Members of the organised labour, on Sunday night, announced that they would shut down offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Distribution Companies nationwide. They said the offices would be under lock and key until the Federal Government accedes to their request on total reversal of electricity tariff hike.

5. The Coalition of Fulani groups in Plateau State has claimed that the recent attack on their members in Bassa Local Government Area of the state is a confirmation of the Department of State Services’ (DSS) alert of threat against their members. The group said this at a press conference in Jos, capital of Plateau.

6. Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has said the country’s “lopsided” federalism practice has hindered the development of states, calling for a review of revenue derivation formula in line with the practice of fiscal federalism. According to him, Bayelsa cannot continue to use its money to develop another state.

7. Prominent leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State on Sunday, carried out a solidarity protest to the House of Assembly quarters in Port Harcourt. The protesters were received by Hon. Martins Amaehwule, Speaker of the Assembly faction loyal to Nyesom Wike, Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

8. A landlord, Bola Abiodun, and her husband, identified simply as Sunday, have flown their Temidire community home in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State after allegedly disposing of their tenant’s body in a canal. It was learnt that the incident, which occurred on May 8, 2024, led the state police command to launch a manhunt for the couple after their disappearance following the alleged crime.

9. The International Monetary Fund has warned the Nigerian government to remove what it called implicit fuel and electricity subsidies. In a report published recently by the IMF, the organisation told Nigeria that the subsidies would guzzle three per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product in 2024 as against one per cent in the year before.

10. Residents of the ancient city of Zaria in Kaduna State were on Sunday thrown into mourning following the arrest of one AbdulAzeez Idris, who allegedly abducted and killed his six-year-old cousin, Aisha Dahiru. The Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, while confirming the case, said Dahiru was kidnapped while on her way to Islamiya school (Qur’anic school).