Veteran actor and SA to the President of Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Military Relations, Mr Steve Eboh in an emerging graphic details on the boat mishap which claimed the lives of Nollywood actor Jnr. Pope and four others at Anam River, in Anambra State and how they have been able to bring the situation under control.
Eboh, who’s popularly known as Ajebo was part of the production Associates of the ill-fated movie, ‘Another Side of Life” being produced by Adanma Luke.
The tragic incident has sent shockwaves across the length and breadth of the Nigerian movie industry. And while different stories are still flying around in respect of the incident, Eboh has decided to shed light on it.
This is just as the Marine Police of Anambra State Command said yesterday that they have recovered bodies of the the remaining three victims of the unfortunate boat accident. Two of the bodies were recovered on Thursday, while the last body was thrown ashore by the tide yesterday morning.
The state Commissioner of Police, CP Aderemi Adeoye, however, urged all water commuters to be safety conscious and avoid behaviour that may jeopardize their safety and that of others while on transit on water. He promised an expedited investigation into the sad accident.
Narrating how the boat mishap happened, Eboh said: “I was part of the production Associates of the movie, ‘Another Side of Life.’ On that day, I was supposed to be on that set. But somehow, I got to the location very early when the cast and crew were not yet there. I went back home, hoping that they would call me when they arrived. But the next thing I heard was what happened and the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Chief Emeka Rollas called me, and instructed me to move to Asaba to ascertain the situation. The incident didn’t happen in Asaba, rather it happened in Anambra State. But the takeoff point was Asaba.
Eboh, however, blamed actor TC Okafor for the misfortune. Okafor’s live session interview, narrating how the incident happened went viral on social media on Thursday.
According to Eboh’s account, while the victims were on board, Okafor kept standing and was pouring libation on the water, and at the same time ringing his bell. In the process, he blocked the view of the person steering the boat in such a way that he couldn’t see the incoming canoe, thereby leading to a collision.
“I was at the riverside when they brought their bodies out of the water. At that point, I invited the police to take their corpses to the mortuary, but the supreme argument prevailed that we should take them to the hospital first for the doctors to confirm they were dead. We went to the first hospital and they were confirmed dead. At the mortuary, the attendant insisted that we must obtain certain clearance before he would do anything.
“However, when our people decided to perform some rituals by the tradition of the Anam people before taking the bodies away, the man that presided over the rituals told our people that their spirits were back in them and that we should rush them to the hospital to revive them. That was when it started trending that Jnr Pope was alive and people were rejoicing.
Unfortunately, the hospital still confirmed them dead. We decided to take them to the third hospital, and it was the same story. At that point, there was nothing we could do again than to deposit their corpses in the morgue. As of yesterday, we recovered two bodies and they were buried the same day by the riverside. Their families were there. The Anambra State Police marine recovered the last body yesterday morning.
