Sanwo-Olu suspends aide over X post on #EndSARS

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has suspended his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, Wale Ajetunmobi, over his comments on the 2020 #EndSARS protest in the state.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024.

Akosile stated that Ajetunmobi’s suspension comes on the heels of the “misrepresentation of facts on his X account on a past incident”.

“The governor wishes to state categorically that his administration frowns at any form of extra-judicial punishment and will not be a part of any such action. That is not who we are. That is not our way,” he added.

Ajetunmobi had, in a now-deleted post on X, said the majority of the perpetrators of the arson on Television Continental (TVC) in Lagos during the #EndSARS protest have been “hunted and executed”.

Ajetunmobi, who did not disclose who did the hunting and execution of the alleged arsonists, stated: “The full story of people who burnt down TVC in 2020 will be told one day, with gory clips and images. One thing to note: majority of them have been hunted down and executed.

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“One of them, a young boy trading in cooking gas around Ketu, was found with AK-47 at the site. Even his neighbours were shocked. But the full gist is better saved for later.”

However, the governor’s aide, in another post on X in the early hours of Tuesday, said the word “executed” was wrongly used by him.

He wrote: “My only and final response to this misrepresentation…

“This excerpt was quoted out of context and there were series of comments made under the same post, which better explained what was intended. Like I did further explained under the said tweet, no extra-judicial killing was insinuated.

“The word ‘executed’ was erroneously used and not intended in the context of that casual conversation. What was written in the entire conversation reflected personal opinion, and not the position of any authority or the entity in which I work. The post and other comments had been taken down, even before this publication.”

The Star