Fresh reports have emerged concerning the boat mishap that took the life of a popular Nollywood star, John Paul Odonwodo, aka, Junior Pope.
One of the survivors of the tragic boat accident, Actor T.C Okafor has narrated how he managed to avoid drowning by pouring Fanta and money into the Anam River.
In a video that went viral yesterday, the actor revealed that the accident was due to the ignorance of the boat driver.
According to Okafor, while they had been on board, only a few passengers wore life jackets.
The actor further explained that he had poured Fanta into the river and thrown Naira notes and some crumbs from his snack into the river to appease the gods of the river.
He also said that he had given some money to children who were playing around the river before they began the journey.
Okafor had also revealed that Jnr Pope had queried his actions, and he explained to him the reasons why.
These are the words of T.C Okafor:
“Before I entered the boat, I did the ritual. The first thing Junior Pope asked me was, ‘What am I doing?’ And I said I was observing the water people. I just couldn’t pass without sharing something. I have given them Fanta, so I don’t want anything bad to happen to me. Jnr. Pope agreed with my school of thought.
When the journey began, the guy steering the boat was wearing an earpiece, and Junior Pope was doing a video. I saw a small canoe with fishermen in front and due to his lack of experience, the guy steering the boat drove right into the last point of the canoe and we all somersaulted [into the water].”
Okafor narrated that while the boat capsized, he held onto the anchor with a female colleague until another boat came to rescue them.
The surviving actor recounted that while the cast and crew were getting ready to embark on the journey, Jnr Pope said he was uncomfortable but couldn’t help it.
“The producer had agreed to pay me only N100,000.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of Nollywood stars and sympathisers had on Thursday, thronged to the waterside of River Niger Cable Point, Asaba, Delta State in search of the bodies of the three missing people who were involved in the mishap.
More details to come…
