Morayo Afolabi-Brown Recalls Being Trapped as Hoodlums Attacked TVC During #EndSARS

Kehinde Adeleye

Media personality and television host, Morayo Afolabi-Brown, has recounted how she and her colleagues narrowly escaped death when hoodlums attacked and set fire to the old Television Continental (TVC) building in Lagos during the 2020 #EndSARS protests.

Afolabi-Brown shared the experience on her Morayo TV show, uploaded on Tuesday, while reflecting on her time as the host of TVC’s morning programme, Your View, following her resignation from TVC Communications.

She recalled that she had encouraged her colleagues to speak freely about the protests during a live broadcast the morning after the Lekki shooting incident, despite the risks involved.

“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 to appear on the programme, but two could not attend physically because they were on the Island. She and her colleague, Tope, were on the mainland and went to the studio, while the other presenters joined virtually.

Afolabi-Brown said the team was discussing issues surrounding the protests when hoodlums stormed the building while the programme was still live.

“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 recalled.

She said communication with the control room suddenly stopped as the attack unfolded, leaving her confused until 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.

The presenter explained that the programme was cut short as staff members struggled to find a way out of the studio.

However, when they attempted to open the studio door, they discovered that the attackers had already entered the newsroom with fire and torches.

“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.

According to her, the team barricaded the studio door with chairs before attempting to escape through a back entrance. They, however, abandoned the plan after discovering that buses outside the building were already being set ablaze.

Afolabi-Brown said she contacted the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and other people for assistance as she and her colleagues remained trapped inside the building.

She also recounted how her colleague Tope’s husband initially followed police officers before realising that his wife was still trapped inside the building.

In an emotional part of her account, Afolabi-Brown said her 98-year-old grandmother and mother-in-law left home and began walking towards the TVC premises after learning that she was trapped inside.

She said the elderly women walked through the area where hoodlums were setting fires, determined to reach the building and find her.

“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 recalled.

Reflecting on the incident, Afolabi-Brown said the experience highlighted the shared responsibility Nigerians have in shaping the country’s future, regardless of their workplaces or backgrounds.

“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 experience as painful but expressed gratitude that she and her colleagues survived the attack.

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