The actor reportedly drowned in a boat accident while filming in Asaba, the Delta State capital, on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, with his death reported by multiple sources, accompanied by videos of his apparently lifeless body.
UPDATE: Confusion surrounds status of Nollywood actor Jnr Pope after drowning incident
The actor reportedly drowned in a boat accident while filming in Asaba, the Delta State capital, on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, with his death reported by multiple sources, accompanied by videos of his apparently lifeless body.
However, Emeka Rollas, the national president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), announced late on Wednesday that the actor was responding to medical treatment.
"What God cannot do does not exist. Junior Pope is alive. He is taking treatment in the hospital," he posted on Instagram. But he deleted the post 30 minutes later, causing further confusion.
AGN president, Emeka Rollas, has deleted this Instagram post announcing Jnr Pope's survival [Instagram/@emekarollas]
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Two other yet-to-be-identified members of the film's production team also reportedly drowned, but there's not update about them yet.
The incident happened a few hours after Pope shared a video of himself on his Instagram page, riding a wooden boat without a life jacket, apparently for a scene in the movie he was acting in.
"See me lamenting. The risk we take to entertain you. Crossing river 9ja yesterday with no life jacket. Na wahoooooo. Who does that?," Jnr Pope captioned the video.
Spate of deaths in Nollywood
Jnr Pope's death comes less than a week after the passing of Aderounmu Adejumoke, the actress who rose to fame for her role as Esther in the popular Funke Akindele series, Jenifa's Diary.
This comes after Nollywood suffered a string of losses in March, with three prominent actors losing their lives.
On March 1, Yoruba actor, Tolani Quadri Oyebamiji, popularly known as Sisi Quadri, died after a brief illness.
The incident was followed by the passing of John 'Mr Ibu' Okafor the following day, while another veteran thespian, Amaechi Muonagor, died on Sunday, died on March 24. The two died after a protracted battle with illnesses.
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