Sanwo-Olu suspends media aide over controversial tweets
By Jeffrey Agbo
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has suspended his Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, Wale Ajetunmobi, following a controversial statement he made on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account.
The announcement was made in a statement on Tuesday by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile.
The statement emphasised that the suspension was linked to “misrepresentation of facts” by Ajetunmobi regarding a past incident.
Akosile reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to justice, stating that the Sanwo-Olu-led government “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.”
The controversy arose after a Premium Times report highlighted a since-deleted post from Ajetunmobi’s X account, #Riddwane. In the post, Ajetunmobi claimed that arsonists responsible for the burning of the Television Continental (TVC) station during the 2020 #EndSARS protests had been “hunted down and executed.”
He further alleged that one of the alleged arsonists, a young boy trading in cooking gas in Ketu, Lagos, was found with an AK-47 rifle. The tweet sparked outrage, with one user questioning whether Ajetunmobi was endorsing extra-judicial killings.
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In his response to the criticism, Ajetunmobi denied endorsing such actions, explaining: “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?”
After backlash, Ajetunmobi issued a clarification on Tuesday, two days after the Premium Times report. In a tweet quoting the report, he admitted the word “executed” was “erroneously used” and insisted his comments were personal opinions, not reflective of his employer or the Lagos State Government.
“The post and other comments had been taken down even before this publication,” he added, maintaining that no extra-judicial killings were implied.
The incident comes against the backdrop of the 2020 attack on TVC’s station in Ketu, Lagos, where arsonists destroyed transmission equipment, studios, and vehicles, leaving over 250 employees unable to work.
The station’s CEO, Andrew Hanlon, revealed that more than 500 staff members have struggled in temporary facilities since the attack. Governor Sanwo-Olu visited TVC shortly after the incident, pledging support for its rebuilding.