Junior Pope: Police Provide Fresh Details on Recovered Bodies

• More bodies have been recovered in the rescue operation on the Anambra boat mishap that claimed the lives of Nollywood actor Junior Pope and his colleagues
• The spokesperson of the Anambra state police command confirmed the development to newsmen in a statement on Friday
• Tochukwu Ikenga said three bodies have been recovered even as fresh arrests have reportedly been made

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements

The Anambra state police command said it has recovered three bodies of the victims of a boat mishap, which also claimed the life of popular Nollywood actor John Paul Odonwodo, aka Junior Pope.

Boat accident: Police give update on the number of victims

It was reported that Junior Pope and other members of a movie set drowned after their boat capsized in Anam River, Anambra state on Wednesday April 10, while returning from a shoot.

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The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) said 12 individuals were on the ill-fated boat.

The state police command disclosed that seven people, comprising six actors and an actress, were rescued from the boat accident on the River Niger (Anam River) on Wednesday.

The police disclosed also that a search is ongoing for three missing persons.

Fresh give details on the recovery of bodies

But the police spokesperson in Anambra state, Tochukwu Ikenga, in a statement which was made available to PremiumTimes on Friday, April 12, said the police have now recovered the remaining bodies of the three missing Nollywood stars.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the bodies were recovered by marine police operatives from Anambra State Police Command, Channels TV also confirmed.

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“Two of the bodies were recovered yesterday, 11 April 2024 while the last was washed in by the tide this (Friday) morning.

“All the bodies have been deposited in a hospital mortuary in Asaba while the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (Emeka Rollas) has been notified of the recovery,” he said.

The statement did not provide the identities of the deceased persons whose bodies were recovered.

Producer of movie that claimed Jnr Pope’s life submits self to police

Meanwhile, Nollywood producer, Adanma Luke, voluntarily walked into the police station a few days after the unfortunate incident that happened to some actors while going to the set of her movie.

Legit.ng had reported that Jnr Pope had died while he was on his way to the set of the movie produced by Adanma Luke. Some other people also lost their lives after their boats capsized.

In a post on Linda Ikeji's blog, it was reported that Luke wrote a statement at the police station. It was also reported that the boat operators were also arrested in connection to the death of the actors.

Source: Legit.ng