Actor-turned-politician and Lagos lawmaker Desmond Elliot recently talked about a terrifying encounter that almost took his life during the 2020 EndSARS protests.
Elliot recalled being stuck in his Surulere constituency office following the implementation of the government-imposed curfew in an open discussion on Nollywood On Radio.
Unaware that danger was silently approaching, he chose to spend the night in the workplace since he was unable to go back to his house in Lekki. The 51-year-old claimed that an unexpected disturbance interrupted the silence as he was relaxing and watching TV. From outside, he heard the hysterical cry of his landlady’s daughter, trying to protect him by yelling, “he doesn’t stay here!”
What came next, Elliot described, was pure chaos. A Molotov cocktail, essentially a glass bottle filled with petrol and ignited, was thrown directly into the office. Flames erupted instantly. “I have never been so scared in my life,” he admitted.
“When there was curfew during the EndSARS period, a lot of bad boys came into Surulere and because of the curfew, I could not go home,” he recounted. I was stuck in Lekki, so I could not go home and have to go back to my office in Surulere. I was inside my office and never knew there was going to be anything so I was watching the TV in my office because I had the intention to spend the night at the office. Next thing, I heard my landlady’s daughter screaming, saying I don’t stay there. When I knew there was a problem was when a bottle with fuel and fire was thrown into my office, and it caught fire. I had to call the chief of staff for help. I have never been so scared in my life, it was horrible.”
Elliot’s story is a chilling reminder of how tense those days truly were.
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