Police releases statement in response to claims of Junior Pope’s body being buried near the Anam River bank

• The police have issued a fresh update concerning the tragic boat incident that rocked Anam River in Anambra state.
• Reports circulating on social media suggested that some of the victims were laid to rest by the riverside where the calamity unfolded, with speculations even naming Junior Pope among them.
• The Anambra police authorities have now stepped in to address these claims, shedding light on the ongoing investigation and dispelling any misinformation surrounding the matter.

The Anambra State Police Command has categorically stated that the mortal remains of Nollywood luminary, John Paul Odonwodo, fondly known as Junior Pope, were not among those laid to rest by the bank of the Anam River.

Setting the record straight, the Command’s spokesperson, SP Ikenga Tochukwu, reteirated in a recent statement, that only three families of the deceased consented to the burial of their loved ones by the riverside.

He pointed out that subsequent to the funeral of the three victims, one grieving family returned to the site to retrieve the remains of their daughter. They sought to honor her memory with a more fitting farewell, opting for a burial in her ancestral homeland.

Ikenga added that the corpse of Junior Pope was deposited at a morgue.

“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 further stated that the Command is still investigating the unfortunate 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.”