#EndSARS: Sanwo-Olu’s aide says many TVC arsonists ‘hunted and executed’

An aide to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos has stated shocking details about the perpetrators of the arson on Television Continental, TVC, during the #EndSARS protest in 2020.

Wale Ajetunmobi, the senior special assistant on media to Mr Sanwo-Olu said, in a post on X, that the majority of the arsonists have been “hunted and executed.”

Mr Ajetunmobi did not disclose who did the hunting and execution of the alleged arsonists but indicated that he had more information than he was letting out.

“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.

“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,” he said.

PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Ajetunmobi to explain what he meant when he said the arsonists have been “hunted and executed”. Calls and texts to his known number went unanswered.

On the X thread, an X user, @hamoye4real, asked Mr Ajetunmobi to clarify his post, especially where he referred to killings.

“Are you in the know of extra-judicial killings?” he asked.

In response, Mr Ajetunmobi said some of the arsonists were overpowered by soldiers and killed during an exchange of gunfire.

“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 replied.

Mr Ajetunmobi’s initial post alluded to the fact that the arsonists were “hunted and executed” much later after the attack, not during the attack as he later stated.

No exchange of fire was reported on 21 October 2020, the day protesters committed the arson at TVC. The only widely reported incident between soldiers and protesters happened on 20 October 2020 at the Lekki toll gate.

Attack on TVC

TVC

In October 2020, Nigerian youths under the #EndSARS movement staged public demonstrations to protest extrajudicial killings by officials of the police special unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

SARS was created in 1992 to tackle armed robbery, motor vehicle theft, kidnapping, and other violent crimes.

The protesters, mainly youths, demanded the disbandment of SARS, justice for victims of police brutality, and compensation for their families, among other demands.

Security forces went heavy-handed on some of the protesters and hoodlums hijacked the peaceful protests in some areas. Criminals took advantage to coordinate jailbreaks in some states, while hoodlums looted storage facilities and damaged government and private properties.

In Lagos, to restore law and order, Governor Sanwo-Olu imposed a 24-hour curfew and deployed soldiers to the major protest ground at the Lekki toll gate.

Live ammunition was fired and some protesters were killed at the toll gate, a government inquiry found.

The next day on 21 October 2020, hoodlums attacked Television Continental (TVC), believed by many to be owned by President Bola Tinubu, who was then a leader of Nigeria’s ruling party, APC.

TVC headquarters, which also houses the radio station Max FM, in the Ikosi-Ketu area of Lagos, was burnt. The arsonists also razed vehicles belonging to workers of the broadcast station. Fortunately, no casualty was recorded.

The Lagos government has since spent hundreds of millions of naira to repair properties damaged during the protest and compensate some protest victims.