Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has reportedly suspended Wale Ajetunmobi, his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media.
According to Daily Trust, Ajetunmobi’s suspension comes after he said some arsonists who touched the Television Continental (TVC) in Lagos during the nationwide #EndSARS protest in 2020 were “hunted and executed.”
Most families who lost loved ones during the social unrest are yet to find closure, as the state and federal government have denied allegations of extra judicial killings during the protest, most especially at the Lekki tollgate.
The Lagos State Judicial Panel on #EndSARS and police brutality had indicted Sanwo-Olu in the brutal intervention of the Nigerian Army at Lekki Toll Gate on October 20.
Sanwo-Olu, like the Nigerian Army, was indicted in the panel’s report, but the state government rejected the report.
More than four years after the incident, Ajetunmobi, in a post on X, said that the majority of the arsonists who set TVC head office on fire have been “hunted and executed.”
“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 AK-47 at the site. Even his neighbours were shocked. But the full gist is better saved for later,” he said.
When a user asked Ajetunmobi to clarify his post on the alleged extra-judicial killings, he responded: “Lol… you want to create a narrative in your head. What is extrajudicial killing here? Some of the people were chased by soldiers and exchange of fire occurred. Then arsonists were overpowered and killed in the process. Others ran away. Is that an extra-judicial killing to you?”
The now-deleted posts have been generating comments on the social media.
Following the incident, Sanwo-Olu handed the aide a suspension for “misinterpreting fact.”
“The Governor wishes to state categorically that his administration frowns at any form of extrajudicial punishment and will not be a part of any such action.
“That is not who we are. That is not our way,” Gboyega Akosile, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said on Tuesday in a statement announcing Ajetunmobi’s suspension.
