Any talk about releasing the hostages being held by HAMAS, without considering the 7,000 Palestinians held behind bars in Israel will not be complete, Abdullah Shawesh, The Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, has said, adding that holistic approach must be taken towards the Israelis- Palestinians hostage talk.

Shawesh, who told Diplomatic Correspondents in Abuja that the hostage exchanges should include those being held by Israel before the outbreak of current hostilities, saying every Palestinian was for peace and looking forward to all hostages going to their homes regardless of nationalities, added that the issue should not just be about the Israeli hostages alone but that West Bank and 2.3 million residents of  Gaza be set free from Israeli siege.

His words: “There are 2.3 million Palestinian in Gaza and have been subjected and held hostage by the Israeli since 2007. More than 7,000 people are in Israeli jail including 300 children. So when we talk about hostage solution is that it should be collective on both sides. We cannot just talk about one side. I strongly believe that all the hostages, regardless of their nationalities should be back home tonight.

“The Israelis and the Palestinians and Gaza should be freed and likewise West Bank. That the people of Gaza should not be subjected to Israeli siege. We want the ceasefire and also to ensure that there is no one Israeli or Palestinian hostage. We hope that all the hostages that is Israelis and Palestinians go back to their homes tonight .

“It is very important and in this particular issue we need all to take it in a collective manner and not to talk about just the Israeli hostages. There are more than 7,000 Palestinians in the Israeli Jails. More than 300 children. More 2,600 from last escalation. All of them should be set freed. There cannot be peace as long as Israel has nuclear weapon, there cannot be peace as long as they continue to occupy us.”

Nobody should blame the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Bola Tinubu or anyone else for the travails of Caleb Mutfwang outside the Governor of Plateau State himself and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for going rogue with the law.

This was the position of the Presidency, on Monday, as it argued that the fate both the governor and his party are suffering in the hands of the courts, is what other parties including the ruling APC had faced when they decided to brush aside the orders of court for impunity.

Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, while reacting to the verdict of the Court of Appeal which sacked the governor on Sunday, after setting aside the judgement of the governorship election tribunal that initially upheld the result of the March 18, 2023, which declared him winner, said the PDP was simply benefitting from disobeying court orders ahead of the elections.

The Court, sitting in Abuja had in a ruling on Sunday removed Mutfwang and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw Certificate of Return presented to him, and present same to Nentawe Yilwatda of the APC, who came second during the polls.

Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, stressing that neither the judiciary nor the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), should be blamed for the outcome, pointed out how the APC suffered the same fate after the 2019 elections, when all the elected officials in Zamfara State, were sacked by the Supreme Court for refusing to follow due process in the nomination of candidates.

Hear him: “To those crying and complaining about the judgment of the Appeal Court in nullifying the Election of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, they seem to have forgotten history so quickly. In 2019, all Zamfara elected officials and members of the APC, from governor to state and National Assembly lawmakers lost their posts because the APC failed to carry out legally valid primaries. The PDP, failing to learn from history, repeated the same illegality, using an illegal caretaker committee to conduct primaries, despite a court order.

“Blame the PDP for the electoral setback, not the APC, the judiciary, INEC and President Tinubu. Non-compliance with the electoral law and the constitution is also at the root of the nullification of the election of Kano governor, Abba Yusuf. Those blaming the judiciary and being emotional about the ruling should face reality. Yusuf was sacked based on the law. I believe we all want our country to be guided by the rule of law.”

Lagos State Police Command, has confirmed that the yet to be identified driver of the Honda saloon with the licence plate EPE 984 DV, which killed two sweepers from the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) on Monday morning, is currently in their custody.

Benjamin Hundeyin, a Superintendent of Police (SP) and spokesman of the command, who gave an update on the ghastly incident, which occurred on the Gbagada Motorway, said the driver, who fled the scene after the incident, had turned himself in and currently being held, preparatory to being charged to court.

Hundeyin, said: “The owner of the Honda Saloon car turned himself in yesterday (Monday) night and he will be taken to court today for manslaughter. It was not murder, it was an accident and was not deliberate, so he will be charged with manslaughter.”

The said driver, according to reports, had abandoned his car and fled on foot immediately after ramming into the sweepers while allegedly trying to escape from officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LSTMA).

However, absolving the LASTMA operatives of blame, the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, said on Monday evening: “Immediate investigation revealed that no LASTMA officer was involved in the unfortunate incident.

“The Ministry of Transportation wants to assure members of the public that the outcome of the police investigation will be made public and anyone found culpable would be made to face the consequences of the law.”