By Elias Nnamdi
Reprimanded Sanwo-Olu aide’s remarks prompt an investigation.
A statement given to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu by Mr. Wale Ajetunmobi, the suspended Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, has been the subject of ongoing controversy.
In a since-deleted post on Sunday, Ajetunmobi claimed that some of the arsonists who set fire to Television Continental during the state’s #EndSARS protests had been “hunted and executed.
“Numerous Nigerians on social media saw the comment to be an acknowledgement of official involvement in alleged extrajudicial executions that occurred during the 2020 demonstrations against police brutality and the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
Following the demonstrations, there were heated discussions about the actual death toll, with the Lagos State Government adamantly denying that any extrajudicial executions occurred.
Ajetunmobi stated in the tweet that a young child, whose identity was withheld, who was a cooking gas vendor in the Ketu neighborhood of Lagos was one of the allegedly “executed.”
“The whole story of people who burned down TVC in 2020 will be told one day, with gory clips and images,” the deleted post said.
One thing to remember: most of them have been found and killed.An AK-47 was discovered at the location of one of them, a young boy who traded cooking gas in the Ketu area.
His neighbors were taken aback as well. However, it is best to save the entire essence for later.Later, Ajetunmobi denied reports of extrajudicial executions, claiming that his use of the word “execution” in his remark was an inadvertent “error.”
“This passage was taken out of context, and a number of comments made under the same post better explained what was intended,” the tweet said.
No extrajudicial killing was implied, as I clarified in the aforementioned tweet. In the context of that informal discourse, the word “executed” was misused and not intended.Personal opinions were expressed during the entire chat, not the stance of any authority figures or the organization where I work.
Before its publishing, the post and accompanying comments have already been removed.
Ajetunmobi’s explanation, nevertheless, didn’t seem to be enough to satisfy his superior, the state governor.
Ajetunmobi’s suspension was confirmed in a statement released on Tuesday by Gboyega Akosile, Sanwo-Olu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
Ajetunmobi’s suspension “follows on the heels of the misrepresentation of facts on his personal X account on a past incident,” the statement said.
The Sanwo-Olu government “frowns at any form of extrajudicial punishment and will not be a part of any such action,” according to Akosile.
We’re not like that. We don’t do that.However, some Nigerians on X.com demanded a more thorough inquiry into the disclosures made in the comment, while many others applauded the governor for suspending the staffer.
Human rights advocate and attorney Mr. Inibehe Effiong spearheaded the investigation, urging security forces to call Ajetunmobi in for interrogation. In part, he wrote, “Wale Ajetunmobi’s shocking admission of extrajudicial killings is not addressed by suspending him as your aide.
“Law enforcement officials must conduct a thorough investigation into this incident. “He ought to be arrested right away.” Similar thoughts were expressed by @UnckleAyo, who said, “That isn’t misrepresentation.
