Exclusive: Untold story of how Junior Pope was rescued but later died

Information sourced by Popular News is that outside Nollywood star act, John Paul Odowondo(aka Junior Pope), a production assistant, on set of the movie project, also died from the ill-fated boats crash on the Anam River on Wednesday. 

According to credible sources, those involved in the mishap were majorly members of the cast and crew of The Other Side of Life, a movie being produced by Adanna Luke, an actress who is said does not have a formal training in movie production. 

A search party made up of divers are said to still be searching for many other victims including one Abigail, who was a make up artiste on the set; Lucky, a sound guy; a gaffer. The movie production team as at that Wednesday were said to be on the set for the third day running. 

Popular News gathered that barely a week before the mishap the people of the community where the Anam River is situated performed a ritual to appease the river god. Infact, we gathered that when the Nollywood star was rescued and was moved to a hospital to be resuscitated information reached the rescue team that they should take him to the community for some rituals which was performed on him. However, by the time he was returned to the hospital getting access to the place became so difficult that in no time he had given up the ghost to the consternation of sympathisers.

Immediate Past Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Creative Designers Guild of Nigeria(CDGN), Stanley Orobosa, who was also a friend of Junior Pope, gave an insight into what happened in the Anam River on the fateful day. 

According to him “the cast and crew, who are adults, didn’t deem it fit to secure themselves. You can’t just go into a river as big as that river(River Anam) which is by the River Niger without proper safety and that’s where we are. 

“Junior Pope that I know is somebody who loves his job and somebody who is security and safety conscious. But I am shocked that as at that time(on the set of the production) probably out of the euphoria of doing the job didn’t ask questions. 

“He always told me that acting to him was just a passion but now it is a profession. He was a very professional person.”

On the Producer of the movie, the other side of life, Adanna Luke, Orobosa said: “She is an actress who dabbled into production. A lot of people who do not know what it takes to produce movies are now involved in production. I dont know how a trained producer will go into such project without putting on safety/security measures. 

“All of these artistes just want to grow their YouTube channels. So they’re quick to go into production, cut all corners, cut all costs and just get a project done. She has been an actress who knows the safety of an artiste on set but she didn’t put up the safety measures on her own set. 

“We have to first blame the production house because she is the producer and the employer. She employed everybody on the set including Junior Pope and all those still missing. You cannot put safety measures, you cannot protect people who are working for you to make money. 

“Yes, you’re paying them. You’re also getting more paid because at the end of the day you are going to place the movie on social media platforms, TV stations etc and you get more money. It’s like a mechanic who does not take care of his tools. How do you want to work properly the next day?”