Sanwo-Olu Suspends Media Aide, Wale Ajetunmobi Over Misrepresentation Of Facts

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has suspended his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, Wale Ajetunmobi, over remarks made on social media.

The suspension was confirmed on Tuesday in a statement by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile.

The statement explained that Ajetunmobi was suspended for “misrepresenting facts” about a past event on his X posts.

In a now-deleted post shared on November 23, Ajetunmobi claimed that people involved in burning a media outlet during the 2020 #EndSARS protests were “hunted down and executed.”

Using his X handle @Riddwane, he wrote: “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.”

The suspended aide also alleged that one of the suspects, a young man trading in cooking gas near Ketu, was found with an AK-47 at the site, shocking his neighbors.

“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,” he wrote.

When questioned about his claims, Ajetunmobi defended his statement, saying some of the people were killed during exchanges of gunfire with soldiers, while others escaped.

He dismissed accusations of promoting extrajudicial killings.

“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?” he asked.

Following the public backlash, Gboyega Akosile issued a statement on behalf of Governor Sanwo-Olu, emphasizing the administration’s stance against extrajudicial actions.

“Governor Sanwo-Olu 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,” Akosile said.

Akosile also announced Ajetunmobi’s suspension over “the misrepresentation of facts on his personal X account on a past incident.”

This comes months after reports emerged that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu compensated EndSARS victims with N100 million after initially denying the Lekki Tollgate Massacre.