The President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Emeka Rollas, has revealed why the association cannot take legal action against actress Adanma Luke over the death of late actor Junior Pope.
Cyber Reporters reports that Junior Pope tragically lost his life on April 10, 2024, along with four crew members, when their boat capsized in the River Niger in Asaba, Delta State.
The incident occurred while they were on their way to a movie location produced by Adanma Luke.
Following the incident, the AGN suspended Adanma Luke. However, in a recent interview, Rollas explained that the association does not have the legal authority to sue Adanma Luke.
According to Rollas, the AGN’s legal adviser stated that only Junior Pope’s direct family members have the power to take legal action against the producer.
Rollas noted that the association is working to change its structure and create a more robust system, including licensing actors.
He also revealed that Junior Pope was not a due-paying member of the guild at the time of his death, highlighting the need for the association to strengthen its membership and regulatory framework.
Rollas said: “Update on Junior Pope, you know I was here and I said that we are about to sue. In the course of interacting with our legal adviser, he said that from the contract that Junior Pope signed with the producer, the AGN did not have the locum to sue.
“He said either the direct family or the wife should sue the producer.
“Now we go back to the structure that we are talking about. Because we just came back from Los Angeles now, we are trying to change a lot of things.
“From the structure we are creating, tapping from the practice, we are going to begin licensing actors because we also find out that even the Junior Pope, as of the time of his death was not a due-paying member of the guild. He was just an actor who is big and has not paid dues in the last one year before his death.”
