The news of Pope Odonwodo death was shared on Wednesday, April 10, by filmmaker, Samuel Olatunji.
He said that the actor, along with three others, lost their lives when their boat capsized.
“Four actors, including Jnr Pope, fell into Anam River on their way to a location, and their bodies have been recovered.
“What a sad day for Nollywood. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” Olatunji wrote on his Instagram page.
PUNCH Online has not been able to identify the other three actors.
Junior Pope leaves behind his wife and three children.
In a video he posted on his Instagram page on Wednesday, Junior Pope, who was on a boat without a life jacket, begged the captain to go slowly.
The Nollywood actor told his followers to see how actors risk their lives to entertain them.
He began to plead with the captain to go slowly as he shouted, “I have three children to raise.”
In the caption, he wrote, “See me lamenting… The risk we take to entertain you; crossing river 9ja yesterday with no life jacket… Na wahoooooo… Who does that ??”
Shortly after the story broke, the National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Emeka Rollas, posted on social media that Pope was alive and was receiving treatment, but he later deleted the message.
However, on Thursday morning, Rollas said his earlier announcement that Junior Pope was alive was out of excitement when they noticed the tingling of his fingers.
“It’s so so sad that our joy was shortlived. My first post was out of excitement when we noticed his tingling fingers,” he wrote on Instagram.
He added, “Two notable hospitals tried their best to revive him but to no avail. God knows the best.
“We finally lost him.”
He has acted in Nollywood movies like, “Secret Adventures”, “Eye of the Eagle”, “Bitter Generation”, “Wrong Initiation,” and “Honey Money” among others.
