By Ishaya Ibrahim
Riding in a boat without a life-jacket was not the only negligence at display that cost Junior Pope his life. The actions of those around him on that fateful day were the core factors that left him with no chance of survival.
Junior Pope, a boisterous actor, was to feature in a movie, ‘The Other Side of Life,’ with Adanma Luke as the producer. Adanma Luke appeared not to have taken safety seriously during the production. This is because the boat that ferried Junior Pope along with others for the movie shoot, had no life-jacket for the passengers, leaving the occupants at the mercy of the wild when the accident struck.
TheNiche reviewed series of videos posted by Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan on his Instagram page. The videos were recorded by one Stanley Ontop who appeared to be at the scene of the mishap.
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In the first video, Stanley Ontop was telling aonther person that Junior Pope had little chance of surviving because water had penetrated his brain. He said: ‘Water don enter his brain nah. As water enter his brain, he don finish.”
The other fellow was heard lamenting the negligence of the movie producer who was willing to pay the actor millions but wouldn’t provide a life-jacket for his safety.
The duo, along with others were later engaged in a debate whether to take Junior Pope to a mortuary or to his family for burial. From the video, the consensus appears to be that he should be embalmed and taken to his family for burial.
At some point, it dawned on them that Junior Pope was still alive.
In the next video, voice was heard in a fast-moving vehicle telling netizens that Junior Pope was still alive. The speaker said they were taking him to a native doctor in the River were he drowned to perform some rituals.
Whether the ritual was performed or not, it is not clear as in the next video, Stanley Ontop was heard telling netizens that they were on their way to hospital.
They reached the hospital with hundreds of onlookers coming to catch a glimpse of the dying celebrity. At this point, the actor was already gone.
For Stanley Ontop, it was the negligence of Adanma Luke that cost Junior Pope his life because she didn’t provide life-jacket for the boat ride. But for VeryDarkMan, Stanley Ontop also contributed to the demise of Junior Pope by first taking the dying man to a native doctor instead of hospital.