Chief Executive Officer of the Television Continental (TVC) Mr. Andrew Hanlon has relieved ordeals of the media outfit in the hands of arsonists.
The station was burnt last Wednesday by arsonists, who also held many staff hostage.
Hanlon spoke when Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu visited the management and staff on Thursday.
Sanwo-Olu went to the station situated at Ikosi area of Lagos to console the management and staff of the station over the incident.
Hanlon, who took Sanwo-Olu round the destroyed buildings and equipment, said transmission gadgets, state-of-the-art studios, production rooms and operational vehicles, all went up in flames by the time the hoodlums left the station’s premises.
A broad hole left on the double-layer wall of the central studio of the station and the completely razed main auditorium, which was the main hub of the station’s operation told the extent of the wreck inflicted on the station.
The auditorium housed three main studios, three control rooms, three master control rooms and central transmission laboratory said to have been equipped with the modern communication gadgets worth millions of dollars.
The Governor was also shown a wreck of burnt vehicles belonging to the station and employees.
Narrating his experience, the CEO said after the rioters “invaded our premises and set the place on fire, some buildings in the premises survived.
“But the main transmission building is 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.”
Hanlon said the immediate priority before the management of the TV station was to ensure all direct employees were looked after; stressing the means of livelihood of thousands of indirect workers attached to the brand had been threatened.
He said efforts were being taken to return TVC back to its full operations, promising the station would bounce back stronger.
According to him, more than 250 production staff working in the razed building had been out of work since the incident happened.
He added that over 500 direct employees of the station had been struggling to work in temporary accommodation put up by the company.
Sanwo-Olu was accompanied by his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Gboyega Soyannwo and Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso.

By Oziegbe Okoeki