Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have set the record straight, stating that their visit to Nigeria was to honour an invitation by Chief of Defence Staff Christopher Musa and insisting that it had nothing to do with U.S. fugitive Allen Onyema, who volunteered his airplane as a ride for the couple to tour Nigeria in April.  

Sources close to the couple issued the rebuttal to Daily Beast after British media linked the ex-royals Nigerian visit to Mr Onyema who was embroiled in money-laundering allegations going as high as $20 million in the U.S. 

The sources, seeking to protect the reputation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, noted that Air Peace was a leading airline in Nigeria and West Africa that daily flew commercial planes to the UK’s Gatwick airport. This was done in an attempt to water down any perceived relationship between the couple and Mr Onyema.

Mr Onyema was not a stranger to criminal allegations as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern District of Georgia charged him with “bank fraud and money laundering for moving more than $20 million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents” in 2019.

“Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive while using falsified documents to commit fraud,” U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said in the indictment sheet.

Stanley Olisa, a communications lead at Air Peace, parroted Mr Onyema’s generosity to Sussexs’ explaining that they flew on chartered planes at no cost and were given preferential treatment given their ties to the British monarchy.

“The chairman of Air Peace gave Prince Harry and his wonderful wife Meghan free flights to Lagos and back as part of his contribution to the successful hosting of the couple,” Mr Olisa told UK’s Mirror in May. 

“The planes were chartered. It was just the royals and their entourage. They were not flying with other passengers. We understand that they are royals so we gave them top-tier treatment on board,” Mr Olisa said. “They were given everything they wanted. It was an exclusive experience. And we flew them back to Abuja in the evening. Everything was complimentary.”