Four people are suspected to have been killed when security operatives attached to the convoy of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State clashed with Shi’ite members in Bakin Ruwa Area of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, on Thursday. Details of the incident are sketchy but sources told our correspondent that the clash happened around 4:15pm when the governor visited the community. It was gathered that the convoy came in contact with the Shi’ite members who were performing their weekly procession at Bakin Ruwa along Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway. According to Tasiu Muhammed, an eyewitness, some of the Shi’ite members…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE The West getting nervous about ammunition shortages for Ukraine Ukraine’s allies are growing increasingly concerned about the country’s dwindling ammunition supply and production shortfalls as fighting against Russia intensifies in Bakhmut. For this reason, the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group—which includes around 50 countries—hosted a virtual meeting Wednesday to discuss how to make sure Ukraine’s military gets enough of the ammunition it needs. Western officials have been sounding the alarm for months. In February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, “The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production. This…

Nigeria's inflation picked up again in February, hitting 21.91% in annual terms from 21.82% in January, the statistics agency said on Wednesday. Inflation rose in Africa's biggest economy for 10 straight months last year, prompting a string of interest rate hikes from the central bank. The pace of price increases dipped in December but started to rise again in January. Food inflation, which accounts for the bulk of Nigeria's inflation basket, rose to 24.35% in February from 24.32% in January. High inflation, weak economic growth and mounting insecurity were major issues at last month's election, where the ruling party's candidate…

Nigeria will now hold its first census in 17 years in May instead of at the end of March, the information minister said on Wednesday, citing a rescheduling of governorship elections for the delay. The census in Africa's most populous country will seek to update data on the exact population and the size of different ethnic groups. Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed told reporters that delays in elections for new governors by a week to March 18 meant there was little time to organise the population count. Mohammed did not say when in May the census would be…