Police reacts to claims of Junior Pope’s body being buried near the Anam River bank

According to the Anambra State Police Command, the lifeless remains of Nollywood icon John Paul Odonwodo, popularly known as Junior Pope, were not buried by the Anam River’s bank.

In a recent statement, SP Ikenga Tochukwu, the spokesperson for the Command, clarified that only three relatives of the deceased gave their permission for their dear ones to be buried beside the river.

He observed that one distraught family had gone back to the scene to collect their daughter’s remains after the three victims’ funerals. They chose to bury her in her ancestral homeland to give her a more suitable sendoff.

Ikenga added that Junior Pope’s remains were put in a mortuary.

“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 went on to say that the Command is still looking into the regrettable 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.”