Emeka Rollas, the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), announced on Friday that the association intends to file a lawsuit against Adanma Luke, the producer of the movie “The Other Side of Life.”
The legal action stems from the tragic death of Junior Pope and four other crew members.
Rollas added that the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) in Nigeria will also be held accountable in the lawsuit, as they failed to implement standard safety measures during production.
Recall that Junior Pope (real name Obumneme Odonwodo) and four others drowned when their boat capsized while returning from a movie shoot on the River Niger.
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Luke, in her defense, claimed that Junior Pope had refused to wear a life jacket due to its uncleanliness.
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Rollas addressed the developments surrounding the incident during an appearance on Arise TV, where a 13-man committee has been set up to investigate the tragedy.
He said:
“At least the video that Junior Pope showed everybody on Instagram the previous day before his death, people on that boat weren’t wearing life jackets.
“So I’m waiting for the report and as soon as I get a report, the AMP will hear from our lawyers, Adanma Luke production will also hear from our lawyers. Just the other day we had an actor who almost died on set because the producer hired a driver who doesn’t have a driver’s license and doesn’t know how to drive.
“And while he was reversing, he hit the actor. It was the Guild that took him for treatment, hospital and everything and we spent millions of dollars to get him back on track.
“This is not a profession for brothers or sisters. It’s a business profession. If you’re a producer, be a producer, put money down, and make your film. If you hire an actor, pay him and he will act. It’s not, I beg, do this for me. There’s no money. So don’t worry about that. We are on top of that.”
