The National President, Actors Guild of Nigeria, Emeka Rollas, has mourned the death of popular Nollywood actor, John Paul Odonwodo, better known as Junior Pope.
Rollas announced Junior Pope’s death in a video shared on social media, expressing his sadness over his death
The news of Pope’s reported death went viral on social media and other news platforms on Wednesday after he reportedly drowned alongside three others while shooting a movie in Delta State.
The Actors Guild of Nigeria initially debunked the news with a post stating that Junior Pope is not dead, but receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Asaba, Delta.
However, taking to his instagram page on Thursday to break the news, Rollas wrote, “It is so so sad that our joy was short-lived. My first post was out of excitement when we noticed his tingling fingers.
“Two notable hospitals tried their best to revive him but to no avail. God knows the best. We finally lost him.
He added, “Mr Friday corpse has been identified but three other corpses are yet to be found.”
Speaking further, he announced the suspension of all movies involving riverine areas and boat riding while barring actors from acting in any movie to be produced by Actress Adanma Luke until further notice.
Adanma is the producer of the movie ‘The Other Side Of Life’ that Junior Pope was featuring before his tragic death on Wednesday.
The film titled ‘The Other Side of Life’, was also suspended indefinitely.
AGN stated that there will be no shooting on all locations nationwide on Thursday, April 11, 2024.
Also responding to the development, the Delta State Chairman of AGN, Emma Onyemeziem, confirmed that the corpse of the actor had been deposited in a morgue.
Divers on Wednesday afternoon recovered the body of Junior Pope after falling into Anam River in Anambra State when a boat he was riding in capsized.
One of the divers who recovered their bodies, Peter Chinedu, said they were on their way to a movie location.
Junior Pope joined the Nollywood industry in 2006 and started attending movie auditions and acting as a minor character in movies.
He was popular with the role of a bodyguard, palace attendant, and servant in movies.
In 2007, he came to the limelight after acting in the Nollywood blockbuster ‘Secret Adventures’ a movie directed by Tchidi Chikere.
He has since then acted in more than 150 Nigerian movies which include ‘Secret Adventures’, ‘Mad Sex’, ‘Bitter Generation’, ‘Vengeance of Bullet’, ‘The Cat’, ‘The Generals’, ‘Wrong Initiation’ just mention a few
In 2010, he won the award for Nollywood Most Promising Actor in Nigeria at the Entertainment Factory Awards.