Prince Harry, Meghan in Nigeria to support mental health

Prince Harry, Meghan in Nigeria to support mental health  

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to champion mental health for young people affected by conflicts and to promote the Invictus Games.

The prince founded the Invictus Games to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick service members and veterans.

The couple, in the West African nation for the first time on the invitation of its military, visited the Lightway Academy college which receives support from their Archewell foundation to educate and train young girls affected by conflicts in Nigeria.

Harry and Meghan will also be meeting with wounded soldiers and their families in what Nigerian officials have said is a show of support to improve the morale of the soldiers, including those fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists in the country’s northeast.

“This engagement with Invictus is giving us the opportunity for the recovery of our soldiers,” Abidemi Marquis, the director of sports at Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters, told reporters on Thursday.

Harry served in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter copilot gunner, after which he founded the Invictus Games in 2014 to offer wounded veterans and service members the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics. Nigeria was among the nations that participated in last year’s edition of the games.

-AP