Nigerian police on Friday charged the driver of a car carrying British boxer Anthony Joshua that was involved in a fatal crash with “reckless” and “dangerous driving causing death”.
Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was also charged with “driving without a valid national driver’s licence” and “driving without due care and attention, causing bodily harm and damage to property”, Oluseyi Babaseyi, a spokesman for the police in Ogun state, told AFP.
He was granted five million naira bail ($3,500) with two sureties but will remain in detention until he meets the bail conditions, Babaseyi said.
Kayode was driving the former two-time heavyweight champion and two of his friends, Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami, on a busy highway linking Lagos and Ibadan in southwest Nigeria when the Lexus SUV in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary truck on Monday.
Nigerian police and state officials said that Ayodele and Ghami died at the scene, while Joshua and Kayode sustained minor injuries.
Ghami was Joshua’s long-time strength and conditioning coach, while Ayodele was his personal trainer, according to British media.
The Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) in the Ogun state section of the highway, where the crash occurred, told AFP earlier in the week that its preliminary investigations showed that the vehicle was moving at an excessive speed and had a burst tyre before the collision.
Kayode is due to appear in court on January 20.
The crash occurred in Sagamu in the southwestern Ogun state, from where Joshua’s family hails.
He is known to visit the area when he is in the country.
Local media reported that Kayode had been part of Joshua’s team whenever he visited Nigeria.
Both men were treated in hospitals in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, after the accident.
They were discharged on Wednesday and Kayode was then taken into police custody in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, some 56 kilometres from Lagos.
A government source suggested to AFP on Thursday that the remains of the victims had been repatriated to the United Kingdom, with Joshua’s whereabouts unknown.
Lagos, Nigeria’s bustling economic capital, throngs with visitors from across the country and the diaspora each December.
Joshua visits Nigeria regularly and often posts pictures and videos of his visits to the country on social media.
Joshua last fought in December, when he stopped YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in the sixth round in a bout shown on Netflix.
He was rumoured to be lining up a fight with fellow British former world champion Tyson Fury later in 2026, although that will likely be delayed.
Fury is officially retired, although not for the first time and is widely expected to make a comeback.
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