A boat ferrying over 200 passengers capsized early Friday morning along the Dambo-Ebuchi stretch of River Niger in Niger State, resulting in several fatalities.

Eyewitnesses reported that the vessel, owned by one Musa Dangana, was en route to the Katcha weekly market, transporting a mix of market women, farm laborers, and other passengers.

The boat overturned, throwing everyone on board into the river.

As of the latest updates, local rescue teams have recovered eight bodies, with ongoing search efforts aimed at finding the remaining missing individuals.

This incident follows a similar tragedy just two months ago on October 1, when another boat capsized on the Muwo Gbajibo River in the Mokwa Local Government Area, also claiming numerous lives.

Reports suggest that none of the passengers were wearing life jackets, which may have contributed to the severity of the tragedy.

Authorities have yet to release an official statement, but investigations into the cause of the capsizing are expected to begin soon.

Rescue operations continue, and local authorities are urging increased safety measures to prevent future accidents on the river.

President Tinubu has made seven new appointments.

President Bola Tinubu has appointed four individuals to join the Police Service Commission (PSC).

This Nigeria news platform understands that President Tinubu has now forwarded their names to the Senate for approval.

The nominees are Buba Ringim (rtd), a former Deputy Inspector General of Police; retired Justice Adamu Paul Galumje; Christine Ladi Dabup; and Abdulfatah Muhammed.

The President’s request, communicated by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, seeks confirmation under Section 154(1) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.

In another separate request, the President nominated three individuals for the Governing Board of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

The nominees include Fatai Ibikunle, Kennedy Ikpeme, and Justice Ibrahim Buba. This request also aligns with the constitutional provisions outlined in Section 154(1) and the Third Schedule of Nigeria’s Constitution.

World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was reappointed Friday for a second term, in the shadow of the coming return of Donald Trump and his disdain for international trade rules.

Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and the first African to head the WTO, was the only candidate in the race, and had been all but assured a second term.

The organisation’s 166 members “today agreed to give incumbent Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a second term as director-general,” the WTO said in a statement.

But with Okonjo-Iweala the only candidate, African countries called for the process to be speeded up, officially to facilitate preparations for the WTO’s next big ministerial conference, set to be held in Cameroon in 2026.

The unstated objective is to “accelerate the process, because they did not want Trump’s team to come in and veto her as they did four years ago”, said Keith Rockwell, a senior research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation.

The common practice of appointing directors-general by consensus made it possible in 2020 for Trump to block Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment for months, forcing her to wait to take the reins until after President Joe Biden entered the White House in early 2021.