The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has suspended his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, Wale Ajetunmobi.
The suspension by the governor follows Ajetunmobi’s “misrepresentation of facts on his personal ‘X’ account on a past incident,”
This disclosure is contained in a short statement titled, ‘Governor Sanwo-Olu suspends aide.’ and issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024.
Lagos government not part of extra-judicial punishment
Sanwo-Olu in the statement said that the state government under his administration rejects any form of extra-judicial punishment and will not be part of it.
The statement reads, ‘’ Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has suspended his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, Mr. Wale Ajetunmobi.
‘’Mr. Ajetunmobi’s suspension comes on the heels of the misrepresentation of facts on his personal “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.’’
Backstory
The comment by the state government is coming days after the governor’s media aide had in a now-deleted post on X on November 23, alleged that those individuals who burnt down the property housing media organization, Television Continental (TVC), during the 2020 #EndSARS protests were “hunted down and executed”.
The suspended aide also stated that one of the “executed” arsonists was a young boy (name undisclosed) who traded in cooking gas around the Ketu area of the state.
Ajetunmobi posted, “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 on X with his handle @Riddwane
“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 a post by an X user who sought clarification on the statement, he said, “Lol… you want to create a narrative in your head. What is extrajudicial 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?”
Quoted out of context
Ajetunmobi in response to a story by a media platform said he was quoted out of context, noting that no extra-judicial killing was insinuated in his earlier comment.
He said, ‘’My only and final response to this misrepresentation…
‘’This excerpt was quoted out of context and there were a 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 suspended media aide said the word “executed” was erroneously used and not intended in the context of that casual conversation.
He insisted that what was written in the entire conversation reflected his personal opinion and not the position of any authority or entity he works for.
He noted that the post and other comments had been taken down, even before the publication.