Our Reporter

Lagos State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Sam Egube, has expressed dismay at the level of destruction visited on Television Continental (TVC) by hoodlums during the #EndSARS protest.

Egube said the attack on TVC or any other media house was an attack on the nation’s democracy, considering the role they played in the restoration of civil rule.

The commissioner spoke on Thursday on the premises of TVC when he led frontline leaders and people of Southsouth origin in Lagos on an on-the-spot assessment of the damage on the media house and to commiserate with the workers and management of the outfit.

He assured the media house that Southsouth indigenes, who he described as peaceful, would back the station to bounce back as soon as possible.

Egube said the attack was a setback for a nation like Nigeria still struggling to put infrastructure in place, adding that this was not what nation-building is about.

“We are a large group in Lagos and we believe that through our Southsouth network, if we speak to our people and our people speak to their neighbours and are able to communicate proper behavior and through proper channels, then some of these things will be eradicated in future.

“We need to be galvanising an initiative to rebuild Lagos,” he added.

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Also, a frontline leader among the Southsouth team, High Chief Lucky Oyakhire, assured the broadcast station that they would explore their network to ensure that the people are better educated to avoid such incidents in the state and the country in the future.

Welcoming the visitors to TVC, its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Hanlon said despite the magnitude of loss the media house suffered during the attack, it remained determined to rebuild and ensure that the workers do not suffer.

Conducting the Southsouth team round the premises, he added: “For us to have lost everything we had for our television business is really devastating. We saw everything going up in flames; it was a very upsetting time for all of us. The workforce is 550 and their livelihood was put at stake, in grave risk, at a time Nigeria is facing extreme hardship.

“We take the welfare of our workers very serious. We opened up a crèche three months ago for kids whose parents work here. We have free food for our workers. For them to have been traumatised the way they were, was a very grave moment for all of us.”

The Southsouth team also planned to visit other properties destroyed across Lagos.