By Kolawole Ojebisi
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has suspended, Wale Ajetunmobi, his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, over his social media comments
Ajetunmobi had taken to his official X account to allege that a number of those who burnt Television Continental (TVC) in 2020 were “hunted down and executed”.
He made the post on November 23, though he had deleted it following a flurry of comments seeking clarification on the post.
“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,” he wrote.
“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.”
Ajetunmobi made the comments while responding to a post on the recent remarks by Reuben Abati, a former presidential aide.
X user @hamoye4real had asked Ajetunmobi to clarify the nature of the killing he was referencing.
“What do you mean by ‘hunted down and executed’?Are you in the know of extra-judicial killings?,” the X user asked.
Ajetunmobi replied with: “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?”
But reacting to Ajetunmobi’s post on Tuesday, the media aide to Sanwo-Olu, Gbenga Akosile said the state government frowns on extra-judicial punishment in all forms stressing that the Sanwo-Olu administration will never toe that line.
“Mr. Ajetunmobi’s suspension comes on the heels of the misrepresentation of facts on his personal ‘X’ account on a past incident,” the statement reads.
“The Governor wishes to state categorically that his administration frowns at (sic) 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.”
Recall that, in October 2020, young Nigerians protested against brutality from the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) — a police unit.
The protest dragged on for days nationwide with the epicenter being
Though the protest was nationwide, the epicenter was Lagos where it dragged on, gathering momentum, for days.
The protest culmination came on the night of October 20, 2020, when security operatives allegedly fired live rounds of bullets into a crowd of unarmed youths who had converged on the Lekki tollgate area of Lagos.
On October 21, 2020, suspected hoodlums attacked TVC headquarters in Lagos and torched the broadcasting station.
The alleged miscreants also attacked several police stations and other public and private properties as violence escalated in the wake of the tollgate shooting.
