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.

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has confirmed that petrol from the PortHarcourt refinery will be sold at N1,030 per litre, as disclosed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

In a statement released on Thursday night, PETROAN’s spokesman, Joseph Obele, stated that the NNPCL officially communicated the pricing to the association.

However, in a statement on Thursday night, PETROAN mentioned that a portal for product booking has been opened and petrol is being sold at N1,030 per litre.

PETROAN spokesman, Joseph Obele said, “NNPC Retail Ltd has officially announced the PMS price at the Port Harcourt refinery as N1,030 per litre. It was also communicated to PETROAN that the product request portal was open for booking/request.”

Obele further clarified that despite earlier claims of the refinery being non-functional, the plant is currently running at 70% of its capacity.

The refinery’s full capacity, which is 60,000 barrels per day, is expected to increase to 90% soon.

This news comes as part of NNPC’s ongoing efforts to revive its refineries, with plans for the new refinery, which has a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day, to begin production shortly.

Obele emphasized that both refineries, located in the Eleme area of Rivers State, are crucial for the country’s oil production, with PETROAN expressing interest in collaborating with all active refineries in Nigeria.

Additionally, the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources recently visited the refinery, confirming its functionality and witnessing petroleum trucks being loaded.

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.