Emeka Rollas, the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), has opened up on why they cannot pursue legal actions against filmmaker Adanma Luke over the tragic demise of actor Junior Pope.
Edum News recalls that Junior Pope tragically died in a boat accident on 10 April while returning from the set of Adanma Luke’s “Other Side of Life” movie.
Following his death, the AGN had suspended Adanma Luke while pledging to take legal actions against her.
However, in a fresh development on Sunday during an interview with Arise Tv, Rollas explained that the AGN cannot sue the filmmaker because they lacked the locu standi to do so.
He said, “Update on Junior Pope, you know I was here, and I said we are about to sue. While interacting with our legal adviser, he said that the AGN did not have the locus to sue from the contract Junior Pope signed with the producer. He said either the direct family or the wife should sue the producer.
“From the structure we are creating, tapping from the practice, we will begin licensing actors because we also found out that even the Junior Pope, as of his death, was not a due-paying guild member. He was a big actor who had not paid dues in the last year before his death.”
The AGN president also called for reforms in Nigeria’s film industry, adding that there is need to focus on actor licensing and better compensation structures.
