Details of Fatal Crash Involving Anthony Joshua's Friends Revealed
Anthony Joshua’s driver attempted to overtake another vehicle before ploughing into a stationary lorry in the crash that killed two of the heavyweight’s closest friends, a Nigerian court has heard.
Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami – long-time members of Joshua’s inner circle – died at the scene on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Makun, Ogun State, on December 29. Joshua survived and was taken to hospital.
Court hears details of fatal crash
In the dock is 46-year-old Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, accused of causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a valid licence. He denies both charges.
The court was told that Joshua, Ayodele and Ghami were travelling to visit the former unified world champion’s father in Ogun, just days after Joshua’s lucrative stoppage win over Jake Paul in Miami. During that journey, prosecutors say, Kayode tried to overtake a moving truck and instead smashed into a lorry that had been parked on the roadside.
All three passengers were reportedly asleep when the impact came.
Ayodele, Joshua’s personal trainer, and Ghami, his strength coach, were pronounced dead at the scene. Joshua was rushed to hospital. Kayode survived and now faces the most serious allegations of his life.
The tragedy ripped through a tight-knit camp that had just celebrated another major win and was heading home, briefly, to family.
Second driver also charged
The court also heard that the driver of the stationary lorry, 35-year-old Abubakar Adamu, has been charged with obstructing the free flow of traffic. He, too, denies any wrongdoing.
By the time officers from the Ogun State Motor Traffic Division reached the crash site, both vehicles had already been removed, Inspector Christopher Ajayi Taiwo told the court. Around the driver’s side, police recovered a logbook, painkillers and an energy drink.
One striking detail emerged: despite Joshua being at the centre of events, local police have not yet taken a statement from the former champion. When Kayode’s lawyer pressed Inspector Ajayi on why that had not happened, the officer replied that he “didn’t have his number.”
The hearing has been adjourned until September 10, with both men still contesting the charges against them. The case continues, and with it the search for clear responsibility on a dark stretch of Nigerian highway.
Grief that hasn’t left Joshua’s corner
The legal process plays out in Ogun. The grief has followed Joshua around the world.
In July, after stopping Kristian Prenga, Joshua broke down in the ring as he tried to pay tribute to Ayodele and Ghami. The normally composed heavyweight could not hold back the tears.
A month earlier, he had spoken publicly about his determination to support the families of the two men who had helped shape his career and his body.
“My goal is to help their families and to help them achieve their goals, even though they may not be here in the physical,” he said then. “I’m going to help them fulfill their dreams for their families.”
He made it clear he would not be doing it alone, pointing to a wider team and “a whole system” working to preserve their legacy. But he also stressed his own responsibility – what he would do “in my corner of the world” to honour them.
Now, as the court in Ogun prepares to resume in September, the focus shifts from the ring to the road, from belts and rankings to the brutal question at the heart of this case: who, if anyone, could have prevented the crash that tore Joshua’s camp apart?
