Russia attacked positions in eastern Ukraine as it tries to encircle Ukrainian forces in the Donbas and fend off a counteroffensive around the city of Izium. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia's offensive in Donbas had stalled and Ukraine could win the war, an outcome few military analysts predicted at the outset of the conflict. "Russia's war in Ukraine is not going as Moscow had planned," Stoltenberg told reporters on Sunday. In a strategic blow for Russia, which has long opposed NATO expansion, Finland on Sunday confirmed it would apply to join the Atlantic military alliance. Sweden's ruling Social Democrats…

Sokoto state has declared an immediate 24-hour curfew to quell protests demanding the release of suspects in the killing of Deborah Samuel last week, a statement from the governor's office said. On Thursday, Samuel was beaten and burned by fellow students for alleged blasphemous statements about the Prophet Mohammad in a Whatsapp group. Two suspects were arrested. The curfew applies to the state capital Sokoto. Nigeria is almost evenly divided between the largely Christian south and mainly Muslim north, where some states have adopted strict sharia laws, including death sentences for blasphemy. A city resident witness described the protesters as…

Kaduna government has banned protests related to religious activity in the state. Samuel Aruwan, commissioner for internal security, said the ban became imperative “in view of moves by some unpatriotic elements to organise series of for-and-against protests related to a security development in one of the northern states”. The ban comes in the wake of unrest in Sokoto state over the arrest of the suspected killers of Deborah Samuel, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education. A mob killed Deborah over alleged blasphemy on Thursday. Her killing had sparked outrage and condemnation across the country, with Nigerians asking…

Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, has visited the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. The governor quoted the IPOB leader as saying that he would preach peace when released. Soludo made this known in a post on his Facebook page Saturday night after visiting the IPOB leader. He posted, “I visited Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday, (Friday, 13th May, 2022) to felicitate with him and also as part of the wider consultations with critical stakeholders in search of lasting peace and security in the Southeast. “He was in very high spirits and we had quality and frank…