•Late Junior Pope
Investigation has revealed that the late nollywood actor, Jr Pope was never provided with a life jacket contrary to viral reports that it was made available to him which he rejected while boarding the ill-fated boat that capsized, claiming his life and that of four other passengers on April 10, at Anam river in Anambra State.
The chairman of the committee set up by the leadership of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, to investigate the remote and immediate cause of the boat accident, Prince Uvo Kevin Oghogho has put the record straight, refuting the report that a life jacket was provided to the late actor by the boat operators.
According to him, no life jacket was provided to the late actor, reports Saturday Vanguard.
Only two passengers on board; the Director of Photography and the Sound Engineer were wearing life jackets, which he said, they hired from the boat operators. “As soon as the accident occurred, the boat operators quickly brought in new live jackets. All along they were not making life jackets available to passengers,” he said.
Oghogho, who’s also the AGN National Taskforce Chairman made this startling revelation, in a chat with our reporter, shortly after presenting the report of his committee to the National Executive Council of the guild in Lagos recently.
The report was coming three months after the accident happened on April 10, at Anam river.
Narrating how the boat mishap happened, Kevin said, “the outboard engine fibre boat conveying the cast and crew of the movie, produced by Adamma Luke departed Asaba jetty with Ononno jetty as destination. As they embarked on the journey, at about 12.30 pm, according to the survivors, Jnr Pope was making a video, while his colleagues on board were catching fun with him.
“The boat driver’s attention was drawn to the scene, as he was looking back to catch a glimpse of the action, while he was at high speed. He eventually crashed into a crossing local fishing canoe, leading to the speed boat capsizing and emptying all the occupants into the Anam river. Five passengers died on the spot, while seven were rescued alive,” Oghogho recounted.
He also dismissed the insinuation that Jnr Pope was killed and thrown into the river, following the blood that was gushing out from his nostril.
The actor insisted that Jnr.Pope was not the only victim who was bleeding from the nose as another victim also did.
Oghogho added that the doctor attached to the marine police who helped to recover Jnr Pope’s body and that of one Friday performed CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on the spot and confirmed them dead before their corpses were taken to the morgue in Asaba.
According to him, his committee recommended that the Ministry of Transportation or the Inland waterways should look into the issue of providing life jackets to passengers before boarding any water transportation.
“There’s also the need to educate our colleagues on safety measures because we like to take risk,” Oghogho added.
