Actors Guild of Nigeria(AGN) has suspended all movies involving Riverine areas following Wednesday tragic death of Nollywood actor, Junior Pope.
The Daily Crucible reports that actor, Pope Obumneme Odonwodo along with three other colleagues were returning from a movie shoot when their boat capsized in Anam River, Anambra State – they died after drowning in the river.
The Daily Crucible gathered further that their remains have been retrieved from the water.
Hours earlier before the boat accident, Pope had shared a video from it, praying fervently, cautioning the boat captain to ride gently, telling him that he has three sons and have to be alive to raise/train them.
•Junior Pope and his boys
The accident occurred on Wednesday as they were returning from the location.
Junior Pope is survived by his wife and three children.
Fans and operators in the movie industry are mourning over the incident.
A fan and Facebook user, Rihanne Maya, who described the incident as heartbreaking in her latest post, stated that it could have been averted if safety cautions had been put in place.
She said, “This could have been prevented if they had done this on a more professional platform; Not using a real river, like in Titanic. As big as the movie was,they didn’t shoot it in a real sea or ocean, everything was done in a pool.
“Second of all, they could have had medical personnel, ambulance, divers and some other SOS teams along with them in the shooting location. It is so sad though,as how the director didn’t think of other safety rights before embracing such a journey,or is it that she doesn’t want to spend money to as low as not affording a common life jacket?”
Reacting to the development, the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) swiftly took steps against prominent producer, Adamma Luke, suspending films featuring riverine locations indefinitely.
This is coming just as people took to social media to criticise Adamma Luke for not providing safety kits for the actor and others affected in the ill – fated movie production.
The AGN took several strong moves, including putting a moratorium on films set in rivers.
Also, movie shoot across the nation on Thursday, 11th April have been suspended.
All actors are prohibited from working with Adamma Luke as a producer in any movie.
Below is the memo: 
