Actor Junior Pope Odonwodo has died.

According to reports, four actors including Junior Pope fell into Anam River in Anambra State, on their way to a movie location and their bodies have been recovered.

The actor had earlier shared a video of himself and others on a boat, on their way to the movie location.

Captioning the video, he wrote: “See me lamenting….The risk we take to entertain you; crossing river 9ja yesterday with no life jacket…. Na wahooooo Who does that ??”

Some of his colleagues reacted in the comment section of the video shortly after his death was announced.

“Jesus! Oh Lord! Oh Lord,” Tana Adelana wrote.

“I’m so sad. can’t believe this. Big Sam where are you? am shaking,” Yvonne Jegede wrote.

The 39-year-old was married to Jennifer Awele.

They have three children together.

I don’t say much here anymore for a lot of reasons but I’ll say this, this was all preventable deaths if the minimum standards of safety was followed. If we in this business take ourselves a bit more seriously and practice this profession with all the seriousness it deserves. Nobody should go into a boat without a life jacket. Period. No producer should send people into one nor should anybody cast/crew enter anyone. How many deaths are enough?…… Richerd Mofe Damijo….

What a tragedy ! What a shame ! How could these young men take this kind of risk. No life jackets and you can’t swim. Ahhh. This is so,so sad.

May God receive their souls. Amen🙏….. Zik Zulu Okafor

Popular Nigerian comedian, Ayo Makun, popularly known as AY, and his wife, Mabel, have separated after 20 years of “friendship/marriage”.

The comedian confirmed the development in a post on his Instagram page on Sunday.

He said he had reached a stage where he could no longer entertain the public with “deep personal family issues.”

He wrote, “Many people believe that staying silent simply means that one is incapable of dealing with issues. Projecting a negative narrative against someone who is not struggling to defend himself doesn’t mean he is weak. Some of us are just logical enough to understand the difference between opinions, values, beliefs, and facts.

“The personality and ability that I possess simply confirm that I have reached that stage in my life where I can not be entertaining the public with deep personal family issues. They just might be too much to handle concerning the individuals involved. Not even when I have a grown-up daughter who has access to social media. Her mental health needs to be protected from seeing things she can not be proud of online.

“Yes! Without compromising my family, I have found myself doing some things that I am not proud of today. It is one thing to watch my friendship/marriage of 20 years slip off my hands, but it’s another thing for the parties involved to understand how to appropriate the blame in a space that is designed for most women to always play the victims and win. I can tell you for free that no one is completely innocent enough to cast stones.

“Presently, I am loving the way that lies about me in all these blogs are travelling faster than the truth. But my painful truth will eventually beat away all the lies.”

Also, in a post on her Instagram page on Sunday, Mabel said she had stopped reacting to disrespect.

She wrote, “Distance is my new response to disrespect. I don’t react, I don’t argue. I don’t dive into the drama. I just remove myself.”

Ayo and Mabel got married in November 2008, and they are blessed with two children.

It was an evening of happiness, conviviality, and camaraderie, on Saturday, March 30, 2024, as members of the Realtime Moviearts group hosted a reception in honour of the new Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board, Dr Shaibu Husseini.
Members of the Realtime Moviearts group, made up of publishers, editors, and ceo’s of media outfits, gathered inside the arena of the COSON house in Ikeja to rejoice with and celebrate Dr Shaibu.
The reception, designed as an informal evening of fun and yabis for members, in the usual Realtime manner, had veteran entertainment broadcast journalist, Segun Adebowale, as the compere, and COSON chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji and GM, Bernice Eriemeghe, as special guests of honour.
The close-knit event kicked off with prayers by Business Day topshot, Nonye Ben-Nwankwo, after which members of the group were introduced.
A number of Realtimers used the opportunity to talk about the Shaibu they knew. From Nonye Iwuagwu Ben-Nwankwo, to Dorah Osas, Bidemi Dairo, Alozie Uzokwu, Yemi Oladeinde, Nkarenyi Ukonu, and Juliet Bumah, it was one word of praise, endearment, and appreciation after the other for the man fondly called CJ by Realtimers.
The eulogies weren’t complete until COSON chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji, spoke about the Shaibu he knew and The Nation’s Assistant Entertainment Editor, Gbenga Bada aka BARON gave the toast at the event.
With food, chops, and drinks in the house, all the 27 members of the group urged Chief Okoroji to present a plaque to Dr Shaibu, who attended the reception alongside his adorable wife, Ruth.

The new ED, a versatile dancer himself, led his friends to the dance floor after a heartwarming and promised filled thank you speech that took over 10 minutes.
Before Segun Adebowale officially declared the reception over, members of Realtime, who are now based in diaspora were connected and they equally had one good thing or the other to say about the actor, dancer, culture administrator, journalist and film critic as well as communication teacher, who would henceforth supertend the NFVCB.
Realtime, conceived as a whatsapp group with eminent entertainment journalism practitioners, as members, was founded over 10 years ago by Justin Akpovi-Etsade with Dr Shaibu Husseini as the coordinator.