……As Babalawo counters burial arrangement away from riverbank
The Anambra State Police command on Wednesday disclosed that the body of the late actor, Pope Obumneme Odonwodo, aka Junior Pope, was not buried by the riverside and, therefore, not “exhumed.”
The command’s spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, made this disclosure during an interview.
According to Ikenga, the corpse was deposited at the morgue.
Ikenga also noted that three of the deceased were buried by the riverside because their families accepted that they should be buried there, but actor Junior Pope and one other were still in the morgue.
He said, “Junior Pope and one other are still in the morgue and awaiting the deceased family’s funeral arrangements, Please let’s be guided.”
It was reported that Junior Pope and other members of a movie set drowned after their boat capsized in Anam River, Anambra state, on Wednesday, April 10, while returning from a shoot.
The police command said two boat operators conveying the late actor had been arrested. It also said the producer of the movie, Adanma Luke, voluntarily turned herself in to the police.
Meanwhile, Olúwo Jogbodo Orunmila, a Babalawo, explained the danger of not burying anyone who died in the river by the riverside to the communities around the river. The traditionalist explained that the elders believed anyone who died in the river had been used as a sacrifice, and not burying such a person at the riverside could lead to multiple deaths.
Reacting on traditional implication, Babalawo added,“A person who died inside a river must be buried by the river bank. They are called Olu wo (o lu wo), which means literally the one who enters spiritually. It means someone who enters a realm that he or she was not meant to.”
