#EndSARS: About 250 TVC Workers Jobless as Company Struggles to Recover from Million-Dollar Loss

At least 250 workers at Nigerian private station, Television Continental (TVC), have lost their jobs after a mob set the media firm ablaze last week Wednesday, Andrew Hanlon, the company’s Chief Executive Officer revealed on Thursday, Oct. 29.

The station located in Ketu area of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, was invaded by angry youths the day after the infamous Tuesday night shooting of unarmed anti-police brutality protesters at Lekki toll gate, and wreaked havoc for hours.

The Nigerian Army, armed to teeth, had stormed the protest ground and opened fire on unarmed #EndSARS demonstrators while they sang the national anthem and waved their country’s flag, leaving over a dozen casualties behind.

Consequently, the youths went on a rampage in the wake of the incident, destroying public and private properties, especially assets owned by a renowned politician, Bola Tinubu, who was accused of being complicit in the military action ordered by the government. TVC is one of the investment of the politician.

The company’s CEO said the the station’s transmission gadgets, state-of-the-art studios, production rooms and operational vehicles, including cars of staff, were set ablaze.

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Hanon disclosed this when the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, paid a visit to the facility to inspect the extent of the damage.

He said the station’s main auditorium, which housed three main studios, three control rooms, three master control rooms, and a central transmission laboratory, was also burnt down. The lab is said to be equipped with modern communication gadgets worth millions of dollars.

Hanon said, “After the rioters invaded our premises and set the place on fire, some buildings in the premises survived. But the main transmission building was completely destroyed and it was the hub of our operations. The rioters cast fear and terror in the hearts of our employees when they broke in last week’s Wednesday morning.

“People’s hard work and huge investment that went down into the TV station were destroyed in a period of about an hour. The incident was really traumatising for all of us. The rioters left immense devastation. The entire interior of the building was destroyed. This is all that is left of our bubbling building, which was a centrepiece. Thankfully, no member of staff died in the incident.”

Although the state government had promised to support businesses destroyed due to the violence, it is unclear to what extent TVC would be assisted to rebuild its facilities.

Governor Sanwo-Olu had said it would cost the state about N1 trillion to rebuild properties damaged by the youths but it was not clarified if private facilities were factored into that figure.