Morayo Afolabi-Brown recounts near-death experience during #EndSARS protest

By Damilola Akinwale

Media personality and former Your View host Morayo Afolabi-Brown has recounted how she and her colleagues narrowly escaped death when hoodlums attacked and set fire to the former TVC Communications building in Lagos during the 2020 #EndSARS protests.

Afolabi-Brown shared the experience on her Morayo TV show, uploaded on Tuesday, while reflecting on the events surrounding the protests. She recalled encouraging her colleagues to speak freely about the demonstrations and reflect public opinion during a live programme, a day after the Lekki shooting.

According to her, four female presenters were scheduled to participate in the programme, but two joined virtually because they were on Lagos Island. She and her colleague, Tope, who were on the mainland, went to the studio to present the show.

However, the programme was disrupted when hoodlums stormed the building while they were still on air. Recounting the incident, Afolabi-Brown said, “And we spoke truth to power on that day. It was while we were speaking that thugs came out to burn down the building. Myself, Tope and the crew were all in the building.”

She said communication with the control room suddenly stopped, leaving her confused until someone alerted her that the attackers had entered the premises. The programme ended abruptly as staff members scrambled for safety, only to discover that the attackers had reached the newsroom with fire and torches.

Afolabi-Brown explained that they barricaded the studio with chairs before considering an escape through a back door. However, they abandoned the plan after discovering that buses outside were already being set ablaze. With their options limited, she contacted the commissioner of police and other people for help while she and her colleagues remained trapped inside the building.

She also recalled the desperate efforts of relatives to rescue those trapped inside. Tope’s husband, she said, had initially left with police officers before realising that his wife was still in the building. Her 98-year-old grandmother and mother-in-law also left home to search for her and were reportedly allowed by the hoodlums to pass through as they tried to locate her.

Reflecting on the incident, Afolabi-Brown said the experience reinforced the need for Nigerians to recognise their shared stake in 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. Very painful, but we thank God for life,” she said.