EndSARS:TV host recounts being trapped as hoodlums set TVC building ablaze

Television presenter Morayo Afolabi-Brown has recounted how she and her colleagues narrowly escaped death after hoodlums stormed and set fire to Television Continental’s old building in Lagos during the 2020 #EndSARS protests.

Afolabi-Brown said she, her colleague Tope and other staff members were trapped inside the building as the attackers invaded the newsroom with fire and torches.

Speaking on her Morayo TV show, uploaded on Tuesday, she recalled that the incident occurred a day after the Lekki shooting, when she had encouraged her colleagues to speak candidly about the protests during a live broadcast of TVC’s morning programme, Your View.

“I said, guys, tomorrow might be our very last day ever to do the interview. I want you to give it your all. You say it as you feel it. You speak the pulse of the people,” she said.

According to her, four female presenters were scheduled for the programme, but two joined online because they were on Lagos Island, while she and Tope were physically present at the studio on the mainland.

She said the team was discussing the protests when the attackers stormed the premises.

“And we spoke truth to power on that day, the very next morning. And it was while we were speaking that thugs came out to burn down the building. Myself, Tope, the crew, we were all in the building,” she recounted.

Afolabi-Brown said communication with the control room suddenly stopped before someone alerted her that the attackers had entered the building.

“Hello, hello. Nobody was talking to me. ‘Morayo, they are in the building.’ That was the last thing I heard in my ears,” she said.

She said the broadcast was cut short as staff members searched for an escape route, but discovered that the attackers had already reached the newsroom when they attempted to leave the studio.

“The moment we tried to open the door of the studio to get out, we saw they had already entered the newsroom. They were already with their torches, with the fire already,” she said.

The presenter said they barricaded the studio door with chairs before considering an escape through the back. However, they abandoned the plan after discovering that buses outside were being set ablaze.

She said she contacted the commissioner of police and other people to seek help while she and her colleagues remained trapped.

Afolabi-Brown also recalled that Tope’s husband initially followed police officers but later realised that his wife was still inside the building.

In another emotional moment, she said her 98-year-old grandmother and mother-in-law left home and walked towards the TVC premises after learning that she was trapped.

“They didn’t care. Those thugs saw them, left them alone. They were chasing the other people. Allow them to walk through them towards TVC to come and find me,” she said.

Reflecting on the ordeal, Afolabi-Brown said the experience underscored Nigerians’ shared responsibility for the country, regardless of their workplace or background.

“Regardless of where we work, we have a stake in this thing called Nigeria. And the experience of that day or our own experience that we almost lost our lives. Myself, Tope, the crew members, staff members should not be undermined,” she said.

She described the incident as painful but expressed gratitude that they survived.

“Very painful, but we thank God for life,” she added.