Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has suspended his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, Wale Ajetunmobi, due to the misrepresentation of facts on his personal X account.
According to a statement issued by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, Ajetunmobi’s suspension is a result of his tweet about the 2020 #EndSARS protest, where he claimed that arsonists who burnt down the Television Continental station in Lagos had been “hunted down and executed.”
Ajetunmobi later clarified that the word “executed” was “erroneously used” and that his tweet was his “personal opinion” and didn’t reflect the stance of his employer or his office.
However, the damage had already been done, and the governor’s office felt compelled to take action.
“The Sanwo-Olu-led administration frowns at any form of extra-judicial punishment and will not be a part of any such action,” Akosile said. “That is not who we are. That is not our way.”
The tweet 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 neighbours were shocked. But the full gist is better saved for later.”
Reacting to the tweet, an X user identified as Hamlad, tweeting as #hamoye4real, asked, “Are you in the know of extra-judicial killings?”
In his response, the suspended aide wrote, “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?”
However, in a tweet by Ajetunmobi early Tuesday at 2:34 am — two days after the report, and quoting the Premium Times report on his X handle, he clarified that while the word “executed” was “erroneously used,” his tweet was his “personal opinion” and didn’t reflect the stance of his employer or his office.
He also stated that “no extra-judicial killing was insinuated.”
The tweet read, “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 in 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.”
