Police reacted to claims of Junior Pope’s body being buried near the Anam River bank

• The Anambra State Police Command has confirmed that the mortal remains of Nollywood star, John Paul Odonwodo, also known as Junior Pope, were not included in the Anam River’s grave.

• SP Ikenga Tochukwu confirmed that only three families of the deceased had consented to their loved ones’ burial by the riverside.

• After the funerals of three victims, a grieving family returned to the site to retrieve their daughter’s remains, choosing a burial in her ancestral homeland.

The lifeless remains of Nollywood icon John Paul Odonwodo, popularly known as Junior Pope, were not buried by the Anam River’s bank, according to the Anambra State Police Command.

In a recent statement, SP Ikenga Tochukwu, the spokesperson for the Command, clarified that only three relatives of the deceased gave their permission for their dear ones to be buried besides the river.

He made the observation that one distraught family had gone back to the scene to collect their daughter’s remains after the three victims’ funerals. They chose to bury her in her ancestral homeland in an effort to give her a more suitable sendoff.

Ikenga added that Junior Pope’s remains were put in a mortuary.

“The Command, on an inquiry about the unconfirmed information that the recovered bodies including Junior Pope were buried by the Riverside where the boat accident happened, discovered that three of the deceased families accepted the victims should be buried beside the river.

“But later, the family of one of the victims decided to exhume the body to be given a proper burial in her state while the other two were still buried there.

“Also, Junior Pope and one other are still in the morgue and await the deceased families’ funeral arrangements,” he said.

The PPRO went on to say that the Command is still looking into the regrettable incident.

He said, “The producer of the movie and the two boat drivers’ statements have been obtained, and other necessary actions/moves already emplaced by the operatives as directed by the Commissioner of Police to determine the criminal liability of any person, if any, in the mishap.”