Jnr Pope: Nollywood actor drowns hours after he posted video on a boat

Nollywood actor Junior Pope Odonwodo, popularly known as Jnr Pope, has died after drowning in a boat accident.

Jnr Pope died on a movie set in Asaba, the Delta State capital, on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 10, 2024.

Confusion had trailed his status Wednesday night after Emeka Rollas, the national president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), announced 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," Rollas said in a later deleted post on Instagram.

However, the AGN president confirmed Pope's passing in a new post on Thursday morning. "It's so so sad that our joy was shortlived," he said.

Clearing up the confusion triggered by his initial post, Rollas clarified, "My first post was out of excitement when we noticed his tingling fingers. Two notable hospitals tried their best to revive him but to no avail. God knows the best. We finally lost him."

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The deceased actor was married and blessed with three kids.

Rollas also confirmed that the corpse of one Mr Friday had also been identified, while three other victims of the boat accident, including a makeup artist and a sound guy, are still missing.

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 March 24. The two died after a protracted battle with illnesses.