After a tough battle between life and death, Nollywood actor, Pope Odonwodo, popularly known as Junior Pope, has been confirmed dead.
A viral video of his lifeless body has been trending since midnight Wednesday with friends, associates and sympathizers milling around the hospital bed where his covered body lay, showing only his head.
Less than 24 hours before his boat capsized, Jnr Pope had put up a video of himself in a speed boat with no life jacket on with the caption: “See me lamenting the risk we take to entertain you, crossing river 9ja yesterday with no life jacket…who does that?” (sic).
National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas, took to his instagram page on Thursday to disclose the sad development as he wrote, “It is so so sad that our joy was shortlived.
“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.”
Honest Afonja, writing as @samuelalaribe, wrote on Twitter, now known as X: “Junior Pope is finally dead May his soul rest in peace and may his family be comforted in this difficult time”
Bbee @beatiebb said: “RIP Jnr. Pope Odonwodo! Attempts at Rescuscitation failed…. He was afraid for his life, but made a joke out of it…. This is one of the unavoidable risks people take in Nigeria daily….”
@beatiebb later added: “People were too hasty with the jubilation…. Nigeria hardly have the capability for Resuscitation from drowning… It takes days or even months sometimes…”
Lawrence I. Okoro (Sir Law), writing under @LawrenceOkoroPG, said: “One of the advantages of Japa is to stay alive. If all the news about Jnr Pope not being dead when he was pulled out from the water was true, then there’s a good chance that he would have been alive today. CPR would have been administered. A well equipped ambulance would have rushed him to a functional hospital for further recovery.
“But in Nigeria, he was first confirmed dead by non-professionals. Left him lying on the ground while they were all standing and making videos. The strangers took him to a mortuary to deposit his body, before they were told that he wasn’t dead. They quickly sat him down and were making another round of videos shouting he’s alive. Then they took him to a herbalist to perform some “river god” rituals normally done for drowning victims.
“When that was done before they decided to carry him to a hospital that didn’t even have oxygen. Later, a doctor confirmed him dead. Yes, we can blame him for not wearing a life jacket in the boat, but he fought for his life long enough for a working system to assist him recover.
“The backward African tradition, illiteracy and the failed health care system worked against him, even when he tried to hang on for that long. It’s so painful to see someone work very hard all his life and eventually end up at the mercy of uncivilized strangers. RIP Jnr Pope.”
The news of his death was first shared on Wednesday, April 10, by filmmaker, Samuel Olatunji.
He mentioned that the actor, along with three others, tragically lost their lives when their boat capsized.
“Four actors including Jnr Pope fell into Anam River on their way to a location and their bodies have been recovered.
Sources confirmed that the actor died on Wednesday afternoon during a boat trip for a film production.
He also confirmed that three bodies of crew members are yet to be recovered as they were four in the boat which capsized after colliding with another boat around the River Niger area in Anambra State.
The incident was said to have happened while they were returning from a movie location in a boat.
He was said to be battling with his life.
In an Instagram post, Rollas said the actor was alive and was receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.
He wrote, “What God cannot do does not exist. Junior Pope is alive. He is taking treatment in the hospital,” he added.
But later, doctors confirmed him dead.
The actor joined Nollywood in 2006, when he started attending auditions and acting as a minor character in movies. He usually played the role of a bodyguard, palace attendant, and servant in movies.
In 2007, Pope rose to fame after acting in the blockbuster movie “Secret Adventures” a movie directed by Tchidi Chikere. He has acted in more than 150 Nollywood movies including “Secret Adventures”, “Mad sex”, “Bitter Generation”, “Vengeance of Bullet”, “The Cat”, “The Generals”, “Wrong Initiation” among others.
In 2010, he won the award for Nollywood Most Promising Actor in Nigeria at the Entertainment Factory Awards. He is best known for playing roles of a criminal, villain, armed robber, militant and hitman in movies.
Other awards he has won include Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards and Best Actor of the Year at the Africa Movie Academy Awards among others.