Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, suspended his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, Mr. Wale Ajetunmobi, over a controversial social media post.
The suspension was announced in a statement on Tuesday by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, titled ‘Governor Sanwo-Olu Suspends Aide’.
According to the statement, Ajetunmobi’s suspension was necessitated by his “misrepresentation of facts” on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account regarding a past incident.
Akosile emphasized that the Sanwo-Olu administration disapproves of “any form of extra-judicial punishment” and does not condone such actions.
“That is not who we are. That is not our way,” the statement read.
The controversy stems from a now-deleted post on Ajetunmobi’s X account, #Riddwane.
On November 24, 2024, “Premium Times” reported a tweet in which Ajetunmobi claimed that those responsible for burning Television Continental (TVC) during the 2020 #EndSARS protests had been “hunted down and executed.”
He also alleged that one of the supposed arsonists, a young boy trading cooking gas in Ketu, was found with an AK-47 rifle.
The post read:
“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.
One of them, a young boy trading in cooking gas around Ketu, was found with an AK-47 at the site.
Even his neighbors were shocked. But the full gist is better saved for later.”
When an X user, identified as Hamlad, questioned whether Ajetunmobi was aware of extra-judicial killings, the aide responded:
“Lol… you want to create a narrative in your head.
What is extra-judicial killing here? Some of the people were chased by soldiers and an exchange of fire occurred.
Then arsonists were overpowered and killed in the process.
Others ran away.
Is that an extra-judicial killing to you?”
In a follow-up tweet on Tuesday at 2:34 am, Ajetunmobi attempted to clarify his stance.
He described the use of the word “executed” in his earlier post as “erroneous” and maintained that his comments were his personal opinion, not reflective of his employer or office.
“This excerpt was quoted out of context.
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,” he wrote.
The post and other related comments were reportedly deleted before the media coverage.
The incident in question dates back to October 2020, when arsonists targeted TVC during the #EndSARS protests.
The attack left over 250 staff members unable to work as transmission equipment, studios, vehicles, and personal belongings were destroyed.
The station’s CEO, Andrew Hanlon, described the aftermath as devastating, revealing that over 500 employees had been forced to operate in makeshift accommodations.
Governor Sanwo-Olu had visited the station shortly after the incident to express support for the management and staff.
Ajetunmobi’s suspension underscores the administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability while distancing itself from controversial statements attributed to its officials.
