The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, and her husband, Prince Harry, are in Nigeria to promote the Invictus Games, an initiative the prince founded to support the rehabilitation of wounded and sick service members and veterans, including Nigerian soldiers engaged in a 14-year conflict against Islamic extremists.
The couple had visited the Defence Headquarters in Abuja and Kaduna State.
The DHQ expressed its delight to host the Duke and his wife, Meghan, who, in 2022, revealed that she was “43 percent Nigerian” after doing a genealogy test.
The Duchess, speaking on a podcast, Archetypes, expressed her desire to learn more about her roots.
In the episode, Markle discussed it with American actress Issa Rae, Nigerian-American writer Ziwe Fumudoh, and Professor Emily Bernards.
She said, “I just had my genealogy done a couple of years ago.”
When her guests asked her to share what the results entailed, the Duchess said, “I’m 43% Nigerian,” to the shock of Ziwe, who responded, “No way!”.
Ziwe further asked, “Are you serious? This is huge. Igbo, Yoruba, do we know?”
The Duchess of Sussex then answered, “I’m going to start to dig deeper into all of this because anyone that I’ve told, especially Nigerian women, are just like, what?”
The podcast revelation was the first time Meghan opened up about her ancestral background on the public stage.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")