Entertainment
Two actors who died on set in Owerri aren’t our members – AGN
Emeka Rollas, the newly re-elected president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), has given his clarification that the actors, who reportedly passed away after collapsing on a film set in Owerri, Imo State, were not members of the Guild.
The incident, which occurred last week, involved four actors, who reportedly lost consciousness after eating and drinking on set.
According to the police, the two died on arrival at the Federal University Teaching Hospital in Owerri, while the other two are said to be recovering.
In his reaction to the sad event via an Instagram post, Rollas voiced grief over the incident and emphasized the AGN’s repeated warnings for actors to register with the Guild before participating in film productions.
“So sad some actors, who are not members of the Actors Guild, just lost their lives while filming in Owerri,” he wrote. “We have repeatedly warned that actors must join the Guild to practice in Nollywood.”
The tragedy came just days after a memorial was held for late actor Junior Pope, who died in April 2024 during a movie shoot in Asaba, Delta State, alongside three crew members.
Drawing parallels between the two incidents, Rollas suggested that Nollywood may be experiencing a disturbing trend of annual mass casualties on film sets.
“This points to two things: the devil still wants this pattern of mass death repeated on an annual basis,” he said. “If not for God, the death toll in Owerri could have been four. The same number we lost last year in Asaba.”
Rollas also criticized the growing number of unregulated film productions across the country, where individuals, according to him, “just wake up, equip themselves with cameras, and call themselves Nollywood.”
