Rita Odafe
Emeka Rollas, the president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), has addressed the decision not to take legal action against actress Adanma Luke regarding the tragic death of Junior Pope.
As a reminder, Junior Pope and four crew members tragically lost their lives on April 10, 2024, when their boat sank in the River Niger near Asaba, Delta State, while en route to a filming location.
Adanma Luke is recognized as the producer of the film associated with this tragedy, ‘The Other Side of Life’.
In the wake of this incident, the AGN chose to suspend Adanma Luke from her duties.
Providing insights on the situation, Rollas clarified that the guild could not proceed with a lawsuit against Luke since Junior Pope was not a financially active member of the guild.
Additionally, he detailed that according to the contract Junior Pope had signed, the right to sue belongs only to his immediate family or spouse.
During a recent interview with Arise TV, Rollas mentioned his ongoing efforts to reform the guild.
“Regarding Junior Pope, I was previously here stating our intention to sue. However, after discussions with our legal counsel, we learned that AGN lacked the authority to file a lawsuit based on Junior Pope’s contract with the producer. Instead, it is the responsibility of his family or spouse to pursue legal action.
“We are also revisiting the organizational structure. We just returned from Los Angeles and are implementing several changes. As part of our new framework, we will start licensing actors since we discovered that Junior Pope, at the time of his demise, had not been a dues-paying member for over a year.”
To hear more, watch the video below:
