Nollywood actress and producer, Adanma Luke has finally broken her silence about the tragic boat accident that took the lives of Junior Pope and four other crew members.
Saturday Telegraph had earlier reported that the accident occurred on the River Niger while the team was returning from the shooting location of the film “The Other Side of Life.”
Speaking in a shared video via her Instagram page on Saturday, Luke disclosed that she narrowly missed being on the ill-fated boat due to a last-minute task.
According to her, “I was supposed to be on that boat with them, but my Director of Production told me to bring the memory card used for the filming.”
Luke, however, said that this was her first time working with the late Junior Pope.
Overcome with grief, she expressed feelings of guilt for choosing to shoot the movie in Asaba, Delta State, where the accident took place.
Luke who looked visibly shaken by the incident, said, “Shooting the movie in Asaba was my decision, and I blame myself for it.”
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Recounting the incident, she said, “On the 10th of April, we lost five of our members who were on their way to a location through 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, I provided caskets, and ambulance 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.”
Speaking further, she said, “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.”
Worried 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 holding me that I should not go. I said, ‘Let me be there. Let me be sure the divers are looking for them.’ They said there were over 50 divers in the water looking for them.”