The National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Emeka Rollas, has confirmed the death of Nollywood actor, John Paul Odonwodo, professionally known as Junior Pope.
The AGN president also pulled down an earlier post on his Instagram page in which he said Junior Pope was alive.
The late actor and three of his colleagues were returning from a movie location in a boat when they fell into the Anam River in Anambra State on Wednesday.
Rollas took to his instagram page in the early hours of Thursday to disclose the sad development.
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.
“Mr Friday’s corpse has been identified but three other corpses are yet to be found.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Junior Pope in 2006 joined the Nollywood industry and started attending movie 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, he rose to fame after acting in the Nollywood blockbuster movie: “Secret Adventures,” which was directed by Tchidi Chikere.
He acted in more than 150 Nollywood movies, which include: Secret Adventures, Mad sex, Bitter Generation, Vengeance of Bullet, The Cat, The Generals and Wrong Initiation.
In 2010, Junior Pope won the award for Nollywood Most Promising Actor in Nigeria at the Entertainment Factory Awards.
He is known for acting criminal, villain, armed robber, militant and hitman roles in movies alongside Emma Ehumadu, Sylvester Madu, Zubby Michael, Jim Iyke, Alaso Wariboko, Gentle Jack, Hanks Anuku and Jerry Amilo.
Other awards he won included 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.
