National Telescope national telescope newspaper
By Mary Ekundayo |
Adanma Luke, the producer behind the movie Junior Pope was filming before the tragic incident, has disclosed that the late actor declined to wear a life jacket despite being offered one.
In the wake of actor Junior Pope’s death, along with three others, in a boat accident on the Anam River in Anambra State, while returning from the set of her movie, ‘The Other Side Of Life,’ Luke Adanma has faced criticism.
Breaking her silence on the matter, Luke Adanma stated that Junior Pope was provided with a life jacket but turned it down because it was dirty.
Reflecting on the past few days, she described the events as surreal, expressing her wish to wake up from the nightmare.
“On April 10, we lost five actors in a tragic boat accident while they were on their way to a location. I’ve been deeply traumatized and overwhelmed by this tragedy. It still feels unreal to me, like a terrible dream I wish I could wake up from,” she said.
She explained the efforts made to recover the bodies and support the affected families, expressing deep sadness that such a tragedy occurred on her set.
“I blame myself for not being in Lagos; I should have been there instead of Asaba. I was supposed to be on that boat. My production manager called me to bring a memory card, but I sent someone else because I thought the location was too far,” she lamented.
Luke Adanma recounted the moment she learned about the tragedy, expressing disbelief and shock at the loss of her crew members, who she considered family.
She also revealed that some crew members had life jackets and survived, but Junior Pope refused to take one despite being offered. Tragically, he went missing after holding onto a gallon for support in the water.
The producer questioned what could have caused the accident, expressing uncertainty but mentioning that someone was standing on the speedboat ringing a bell during the incident.
