A disturbing detail has emerged from the car accident that claimed two lives and left former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua hospitalized in Nigeria last month.
According to the boxer’s uncle, bystanders at the crash scene stole Joshua’s mobile phone while he lay injured, highlighting troubling behavior that has sparked calls for emergency response reform.
Adedamola Joshua, uncle to the British-Nigerian boxer, revealed the theft during an interview about the December 29 collision on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that took the lives of two of Anthony’s closest team members. The incident occurred approximately 30 miles from Lagos near the town of Sagamu, where the Joshua family maintains strong ancestral ties.
“Some Nigerians act badly at accident scenes. When they are supposed to help, you will see them bringing out their phones to make videos and even steal from the victims. That is not right,” Adedamola Joshua stated. “We even heard that Anthony Joshua’s phone was stolen during the accident; such attitudes must be discouraged.”
The 36-year-old boxer had arrived in Nigeria just six hours before the collision, returning to his family’s homeland following his recent sixth-round knockout victory over Jake Paul in Miami on December 19. Joshua made the journey specifically to spend the holiday season with relatives in Sagamu, continuing a tradition he has maintained for years.
Rather than extending his visit with high-profile government officials, Joshua chose to prioritize time with his family. “He could have decided to say that he wanted to spend some time with the Governor of Lagos State or other influential Nigerians, but he said that he wanted to be with his family in Sagamu. It is really painful that such an incident happened,” his uncle explained.
The accident involved a Lexus SUV carrying Joshua and three others, including driver Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode and two of the boxer’s long-term team members: strength and conditioning coach Sina Ghami and personal trainer Latif Ayodele. The vehicle collided with a stationary truck parked along the roadside around 11 a.m. local time.
Both Ghami and Ayodele were pronounced deceased at the scene. Ghami co-founded Evolve Gym in London and held specialized credentials in sports rehabilitation, working with elite athletes across multiple professional leagues.
Ayodele brought semi-professional football experience to his training role and had embraced Islam in 2012, adopting the name Abdul Latif. Hours before the collision, Joshua had posted video footage on Instagram showing the two playing table tennis together.
Initial investigation by Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps suggested the vehicle was traveling above the legal speed limit and lost control during an overtaking attempt. Subsequent findings by the Ogun state Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency provided more specific details: a burst front passenger-side tire caused the driver to lose control while traveling at excessive speed, leading to the collision with the stationary truck.
Driver Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, has been charged with four criminal offenses, including dangerous driving causing death, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care and attention resulting in bodily harm and damage to property, and operating a vehicle without a valid national driver’s license. The charges fall under the Federal Highway Act.
Kayode appeared at Sagamu Magistrates Court on Friday, with proceedings adjourned until January 20. The magistrate granted bail set at five million Nigerian naira, approximately $3,480 or £2,578, requiring two sureties. Kayode remained in custody pending fulfillment of those conditions.
Adedamola Joshua learned of the accident through a phone call from a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police around 1 p.m. that day. “It was like I had never in my life heard that people were involved in an accident. How can Anthony Joshua be involved in an accident? It sounded so impossible, but it actually happened; it is unfortunate,” he recalled.
The family member expressed strong criticism of the emergency response at the scene, particularly the lack of immediate medical evacuation protocols. “I want to condemn the lackadaisical attitude of our government towards anything emergency. To see Joshua crossing the median after the accident when he was supposed to be on a stretcher was distressing,” he said.
He continued: “When you are in such trauma, the stress must be minimized; he was supposed to have been put in an ambulance and from there be treated. If it had been abroad, a helicopter would have arrived at the scene within five minutes for the evacuation of the victims of the accident.”
“There is also the need to step up enlightenment across our motor parks and even for all Nigerians that we owe it a national duty to immediately call emergency toll lines to inform the appropriate agencies whenever we come across emergency situations like accidents, fire disasters, among others,” he said. “Unfortunately, many Nigerians don’t even know the numbers to call during emergencies, whereas anybody can find himself or herself in an emergency at any time.”
The family spokesman called for infrastructure improvements along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, a corridor known for frequent accidents. “The government should deploy more ambulances on that stretch of the road, because accidents are always happening on that road. It is not enough to have the officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps checking vehicle documents; let there be ambulances too, stationed along this road.”
Despite his criticism of emergency response procedures, Adedamola Joshua acknowledged government support following the accident.
Both Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun ensured Joshua received quality medical care. President Bola Tinubu personally contacted Joshua and his parents, offering condolences and assuring the family of government support.
Joshua was discharged from the hospital on December 31, bringing relief to his family despite the profound loss. “We heaved a sigh of relief when we heard that he had been discharged from the hospital; we thank God, but we thought about how good it would have been if his two friends had survived the crash too. Our joy would have been unspeakable. That loss is really a trauma for us as a family,” Adedamola Joshua reflected.
Following his hospital discharge, Joshua visited a funeral home in Lagos with his mother to pay final respects to Ghami and Ayodele before returning to the United Kingdom on January 3.
Matchroom Boxing and 258 MGT, Joshua’s promoter and management company respectively, released a joint statement confirming the loss of “two close friends and integral members” of the boxer’s team.
