Izuchukwu OkosiFollowing the demise of ace Nollywood actor Junior Pope Odonwodo on Wednesday night, the Actors Guild Of Nigeria (AGN) have announced the indefinite suspension of all movie productions shot at riverine locations and involving boat rides until further notice.
The thespian affectionately called ‘Pope’ by colleagues in the industry was leaving location along with three crew members when a mishap occured in a river located in Anambra state.
The actor was said to have started making frantic phone calls when he suspected something was amiss with the boat but regretfully could not salvage the situation as the boat capsized.
Prime Business Africa gathered that travellers on the sea were not expected to engage in a boat ride same day as it was deemed a market day with travellers barred from it.
There were talks of the actor being revived but he was eventually declared dead at a second hospital where a group of youths took him to.
The statement released by the AGN read:
“Following the traffic incident of a boat mishap, all films that involve riverine areas and boat riding are here by suspended indefinitely.
“The film titled, ‘The Other Side Of Life’ as produced by Adanmma Luke is suspended indefinitely,” the statement signed by the AGN president, Emeka Rollas added.
The veteran actor and producer went further and disclosed that a search party is ongoing for the recovery of the bodies of the other casualties.
Rollas had initially posted of the survival of the late actor but had to delete it after he and some members of the Association confirmed the unfortunate turn of event at the hospital.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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