By Oluwapelumi Oluwayemi
Nigerian media personality and actress Omotunde Adebowale-David, popularly known as Lolo 1, has bravely shared her traumatic experience of sexual assault at the hands of a male colleague in the broadcasting industry.
In a discussion on the Say My Piece podcast, which she co-hosts, Lolo revealed that she was raped by a colleague, an ordeal that left her deeply traumatised.
She expressed the difficulty of speaking about the incident, explaining that she has often refrained from sharing the full details due to concerns about facing criticism for not speaking out sooner.
“I hardly ever say this, and I am not even ready to tell the full story,” she said, reflecting on the pain of reliving the traumatic event. “I have been raped only once in my life, and I was raped by a colleague. I see him every other day. Do you know how traumatised I am? When I see him, I just get into this momentary panic.”
Lolo spoke about the stigma surrounding women who speak out about sexual assault, particularly in the male-dominated broadcasting industry.
She expressed her fear that if she named her attacker, who is a well-known figure in the industry, people might question why she hadn’t spoken out sooner.
“If a woman of my calibre named him, he’s an established person in the broadcast industry, won’t people say, ‘How come I didn’t speak about it for all these six years until now that he’s taking a prominent TV position?’” she asked.
She also discussed the emotional aftermath of sexual assault, saying that women often face denial and self-blame after such an experience.
“When sexual assault happens to women, the first thing to happen is denial. The next thing is self-blaming,” Lolo shared.
“I was rap3d by our colleague. I see him everyday”
— Broadcaster, Lolo pic.twitter.com/bClXMCevNZ
— @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) April 5, 2025
