Nollywood actress Onyinye Okafor has offered words of comfort to her colleague and the producer of the movie that Junior Pope Odonwodo was working on before his untimely demise. He tragically drowned, along with crew members, when their boat capsized on the River Niger last Wednesday, April 10, 2024, during filming. Since then, Adanma Luke has faced public scrutiny in the wake of their tragic passing, while the controversy over the lack of life jackets persists.
Many have called for the arrest and prosecution of Adanma Luke, although she has now voluntarily presented herself to the police.
According to Adanma, the movie producer of “The Other Side of Life”, Junior Pope was offered a life jacket, but he rejected it because it was dirty.
She also revealed she was supposed to be on the capsized boat. Luke further disclosed she couldn’t speak, feeling it was all a dream, hoping to be awakened. She added she also made efforts to recover the bodies from the river and transport them to their families for burial. Luke recounted the events:
“So, on that day, while I was getting ready to drop the memory card with the crew on set, I was accompanied by my brother’s children. We were all supposed to be on that boat together. I was supposed to be on that boat.
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“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. But, he insisted that I should bring it to them.
“When I got there and saw Emeka, my DOP, sitting quietly with people surrounding him, I started shouting, ‘What is happening? Somebody talk to me’. Emeka then said, ‘JP, Abigail, Friday, and Precious are gone’. I did not understand.
“My director said he didn’t know what happened. He and the DOP wore life jackets. 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.
“The people who wore 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 onto, which he did. But, all of a sudden, they did not see him again.”
Breaking into tears, Luke added that she considered the people who lost their lives in the unfortunate boat mishap to be her family, and they usually came all the way to Lagos to shoot with her.
“This was my first time working with JP. He and his wife are my friends. I talked to the wife sometime, and that was when she said, ‘Why aren’t you giving my husband work’? JP also said, ‘Ada, you are my friend, why don’t you call me for jobs’?
“I told JP he mainly acts in action films, and I hardly produce that. He then said he also acts in love films too.”
Luke added she was traumatized that the accident happened on the journey from her set.
“I have been so traumatized. I have been so cold. This whole thing still feels like a dream to me. It is so sad that this happened on my set. I blame myself; that I would have been in Lagos doing my thing. I blame myself for coming down to Asaba.
“I still can’t believe this. Those crew members were my family. They have been working with me. If I am working in Lagos, they would come from Asaba to join me.”
Hence, in an emotional way of showing support, Onyinye Okafor wrote on her Instagram page:
“Sis pls hang in there …..
…… you are not alone ….. 🙏🙏🙏💔💔💔💔
….. God knows the best…..
…. May we not be victims of circumstances …. Amen 🙏
… @adanmaluke ❤️❤️❤️”.
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