The Enugu state administration has promised the relatives of John ‘Mr Ibu’ Okafor and Junior Pope a “befitting burial.”
On March 2, Mr Ibu died of a cardiac arrest at Evercare Hospital in Lagos.
The 62-year-old actor had been battling a life-threatening illness for some months before his death.
Mr. Ibu’s family confirmed last week that the actor would be buried on June 28.
Pope, on the other hand, died on April 10 after falling into the River Niger in Asaba, Delta State, while on his way to a filming site.
He died along with four other crew members in the boat tragedy.
Speaking with NAN on Friday, Aka Eze Aka, the state commissioner for information, termed their deaths as a “terrible blow to the government of Enugu”
He stated that the state government is determined to offering the Nollywood celebrities a “befitting burial”.
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The commissioner noted that, while no date has been set for Pope’s burial, the government is working with his family to organise it.
“Being a part of his burial committee on individual capacity, I will relate to the government what the family want,” he said.
“His death was a national calamity and a tragic event that shocked the whole nation.
“We felt that there are so many fans who would like to express themselves by saying one or two things about him and we opened a condolence register to allow them do that.
“The government does not celebrate death but when it happened, we do the needful.”
The commissioner added that the state government would be represented during Mr Ibu’s burial.
Aka said Enugu government held back on its condolence message because of the circumstances surrounding Pope’s death.
“A lot of people expected the state to jump the gun to begin to say one or two things about his death but it is only in Nigeria that people rush to break the news about somebody’s death without immediately knowing the sensibilities and feelings of the family,” he added.
“This young man died on Wednesday and Enugu State Government got the news and was waiting for a confirmation as there were some stories that he was not dead, he is still alive, he has left the mortuary and was to be buried beside the river.
“Some of these stories did not go down well with us as we try to know what was happening. So on Thursday when Actors Guild issued a statement confirming the death, we still wanted to get across to the family.
“When we did, we did not get the contact of the family as many of us did not know he came from Enugu.”
Pope was born in Ukehe, Enugu’s Igbo-Etiti council area, and Mr Ibu hailed from Amuri, Nkanu West.
