By Austin Ogwuda
NOLLYWOOD Actress, Adanma Luke, the producer of the movie titled ‘The Other Side of Life’ which featured Junior Pope has revealed that Junior Pope was actually offered a life jacket but he rejected to wear it, claiming that the life jacket was dirty.
Recall that Junior Pope and four other crew members tragically lost their lives when their boat capsized while returning from a movie location on the River Niger on Wednesday, April 10.
Adanma Luke who shared how the incident happened via videos posted on her Instagram account, Saturday, revealed that she was billed to travel on that same boat with Junior Pope and others, but she stayed back after her Director of Production asked her to bring the memory card used for filming.
Said she, “On the 10th of April, we lost five of our members who were on their way to a location through boat and had an accident.
I have been so traumatized. I have been so cold about this whole thing, it still feels like a dream to me.
“I have not been able to make any statements since, because we have been trying to recover the bodies. I have been providing fuel money to those looking for bodies, provided caskets, ambulance to make sure the bodies were conveyed to their villages and families.
“I have not been quiet; I have been doing things just so these people can rest. It is so sad that this happened on my set.
“I blame myself that I would have been in Lagos, doing my thing in Lagos. I blame myself for coming down to Asaba”.
Continuing she said, “I was supposed to be on that boat; my production manager was calling me to bring the memory card so they could start filming, and I told him to come and collect it.
“He said, ‘Mama, you know this place is far; please just bring it for us. I said, okay, why haven’t you people crossed, he said they were waiting for Junior Pope to arrive.
“On the 9th, they went there on their own, Junior Pope came on his own. He came alone.
So, on this 10th, while I was getting ready to go drop the card with them, I was accompanied by my brother’s children, two kids that were supposed to go with me. We were supposed to be on that boat together.
“Getting there, I saw Emeka, my D.O.P. He was just sitting. I was surprised because I didn’t see others. I asked Emeka, “What is it?” And people surrounded him, Emeka was quiet.
“Worried by Emeka’s mood, “I said, Emeka, talk to me. What is the problem? Why haven’t you people gone? Where is Ogolo? Where is everybody? Has JP come?’ He was quiet.
“I started shouting, ‘What is happening? Somebody talk to me.’ Emeka now said, ‘JP don go, Abigail don go, Friday don go, Precious don go’.
“I still didn’t understand what he meant by that. ‘What do you mean, don go, don go where?’ He said, ‘dem dey inside water’
“I said, let me go and look for them. They started holding me that I should not go. I said, let me be there. Let me be sure the divers are looking for them. They said there were over 50 divers in the water looking for them.
“My director was saying that he didn’t know what happened. He was on a life jacket. Emeka, the D.O.P. was on a life jacket. There was still one life jacket available, I don’t know who had it.
“But my PM said that day they saw life jackets there and took them. He even told the late Friday to send one to Junior Pope, but Junior Pope said it was dirty, so he didn’t take it.
“These people with the life jackets survived. They also told me that when they were in the water trying to survive, Junior Pope was also there, asking if everybody was okay. They even threw a gallon to him to hold himself, which he was holding, but all of a sudden, they didn’t see him again”, she narrated painfully.
Source: Summit Nigeria