Nollywood actress Adanma Luke, who produced the film “The Other Side of Life,” in which Junior Pope starred before his death, has broken her silence on the matter.
Junior Pope and four other crew members died when their boat overturned while returning from a filming site on the River Niger.
Luke revealed in Instagram videos on Saturday that she was meant to be on the boat with them, but her Director of Production instructed her to bring the memory card used for filming.
She also stated that the film was her first collaboration with the late Junior Pope, and she blamed herself for shooting it in Asaba, Delta State.
Recounting the incident, she said, “On the 10th of April, we lost five of our members who were on their way to a location by boat and had an accident.
“I’ve been so traumatized. I’ve been so cold. this whole thing, it still feels like a dream to me.
“I’ve not been able to make any statements since, because we’ve been trying to recover the bodies. I’ve been providing fuel money to those looking for bodies and providing caskets and ambulances to make sure the bodies were conveyed to their villages and families.
“I’ve not been quiet; I’ve been doing things just so these people can rest. It’s so sad that this happened on my set.
“I blame myself that I would have been in Lagos, doing my thing in Lagos. I blame myself for coming down to Asaba.”
Luke mentioned that she was meant to be on the ill-fated boat.
She explained, “I was supposed to be on that boat; 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.
“He said, ‘Mama, you know this place is far; please just bring it for us.’
“I said, ‘Okay, why haven’t you people crossed?’ He said they were waiting for Junior Pope to arrive.
“On the 9th, they went there on their own; Junior Pope came on his own. He came alone.
“So, on this 10th, while I was getting ready to go drop the card with them, I was accompanied by my brother’s children, two kids that were supposed to go with me. We were supposed to be on that boat together.
“Getting there, I saw Emeka, my D.O.P. He was just sitting. I was surprised because I didn’t see others. I asked Emeka, “What is it?” And people surrounded him; Emeka was quiet.
Perturbed by Emeka’s mood, she continued, “I said, ‘Emeka, talk to me. What is the problem? Why haven’t you people gone? Where is Ogolo? Where is everybody? Has JP come?’ He was quiet.
“I started shouting, ‘What is happening? Somebody talk to me.’ Emeka now said, ‘JP don go, Abigail don go, Friday don go, Precious don go.’
“I still didn’t understand what he meant by that. ‘What do you mean, don go, don go where?’ He said, ‘dem dey inside water.’
“I said, Let me go and look for them. They started telling me that I should not go. I said, ‘Let me go there. Let me be sure the divers are looking for them.’ They said there were over 50 divers in the water looking for them.”
Furthermore, she revealed that her director told her he didn’t know what happened.
“My director was saying that he didn’t know what happened. He was in a life jacket. Emeka, the D.O.P., was in a life jacket. 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.
“These people with the 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 himself, which he was holding, but all of a sudden, they didn’t see him again.
“It was when they came out that they noticed that he was no longer there because they said divers came and rescued some of them while other divers were still there trying to rescue others,” she added.
Luke revealed that she feels grief for the loss of her crew members, whom she considered family.
She added, “I still can’t believe this. These crew members were my family. They’ve been working with me. If I’m working in Lagos, they’ll come from Asaba to come and work with me.
“All through last year, we stayed together in Lagos. We were filming and working together.
“This is my first time working with JP. He’s my friend. The wife is my friend too.
“I talked to the wife sometime, and that was when she said, ‘Why aren’t you giving my husband work?’ JP said, ‘Ada, you be my friend; why do you not give me work?’
“I told Junior Pope that you know an action film you dey shoot; I hardly do action. He said no. He dey do love stories; he dey do other things.”
According to news reports, the Actors Guild of Nigeria has barred actors from participating in any film produced by Adanma Luke until further notice.
