The President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas, has explained why the Guild did not pursue legal action against filmmaker Adanma Luke following the tragic death of actor Junior Pope in a boat accident on April 10. Junior Pope tragically passed away while returning from the set of Adanma Luke’s movie Other Side of Life.
On April 11, Adanma was suspended for breaching safety protocols, and the Guild imposed a ban on films involving riverine areas and boat riding to prevent similar incidents in the future. However, the AGN eventually lifted the ban on Adanma in August.
In an interview with ARISE TV, Rollas discussed the complications surrounding a potential lawsuit. “Update on Junior Pope, you know I was here, and I said we are about to sue. While interacting with our legal adviser, he said that the AGN did not have the locus to sue from the contract Junior Pope signed with the producer. He said either the direct family or the wife should sue the producer,” he explained.
Rollas also noted that Junior Pope had not paid his dues as a member of the AGN at the time of his death. “We will begin licensing actors because we also found out that even Junior Pope, as of his death, was not a due-paying guild member. He was a big actor who had not paid dues in the last year before his death,” he said.
Further discussing reforms within Nigeria’s film industry, Rollas stressed the need for better compensation structures and actor licensing. “We will return to the structure we discussed. We are trying to change many things because we just returned from Los Angeles. Now, if you talk about benefits, for instance, in the average balance, you must be financially up to date to get benefits.”
He added, “So now if we change, if we begin to upgrade and say look, you can be active in Nigeria, you can work on, you can be involved in what you’re doing, but you must have a license to practice. And that license you’re given means you are eligible to get everything you need because you have a permit.”
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