Nigeria police charge Joshua driver with dangerous driving over fatal crash

The driver of a car carrying British boxer Anthony Joshua that was involved in a fatal crash in Nigeria has been charged with reckless and dangerous driving, police in southwestern Nigeria’s Ogun State say.

Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was driving the boxer and two of his friends, Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami, on a busy highway linking Lagos and Ibadan on Monday when the Lexus SUV in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary truck.

“The defendant was granted bail in the sum of 5 million naira ($3,480) with two sureties. He was remanded pending when he meets his bail condition,” police spokesman Oluseyi Babaseyi told the AFP news agency on Friday.

Kayode has been held in police custody since he was discharged from hospital on Thursday.

Nigerian police and state officials said Ayodele and Ghami died at the scene while Joshua and the driver sustained minor injuries.

Preliminary investigations showed that the vehicle was moving at an excessive speed and had burst a tyre before the crash, the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency in Ogun State, where the accident occurred, told AFP earlier in the week.

After leaving the hospital on Wednesday, Joshua and his mother paid their respects at the funeral home where the bodies of his friends were being prepared for repatriation.

A government source suggested to AFP on Thursday that the remains of the victims may have been repatriated to the United Kingdom. Joshua’s whereabouts are unknown.