{"id":603,"date":"2026-01-03T15:30:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T15:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/603\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T15:30:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T15:30:06","slug":"anthony-joshua-returns-to-uk-after-nigeria-crash-that-killed-two-close-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/603\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Joshua returns to UK after Nigeria crash that killed two close friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Joshua<\/a> has arrived back in the UK<\/a> after the devastating crash<\/a> in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his closest friends<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The heavyweight boxer touched down at Stansted Airport<\/a> on Friday evening aboard a private jet before being driven to his home to continue his recovery.<\/p>\n

His strength coach Sina Ghami and personal trainer Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele, both 36, were killed when their vehicle smashed into a stationary truck near Lagos earlier this week.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old former world champion was pulled from the wrecked 4\u00d74 but escaped with only minor injuries.<\/p>\n

Funerals for both men will take place on Sunday at a London mosque, with family and friends gathering for a janaza prayer service and burial in the morning.<\/p>\n

However, Joshua reportedly remains torn over whether to attend amid concerns his appearance could turn the solemn occasion into a media spectacle.<\/p>\n

A source close to the boxer said: “Anthony desperately wants to pay his respects but he’s worried about turning up and creating a circus atmosphere that takes away from the families’ grief.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Joshua’s driver appeared in court yesterday charged over the fatal collision<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, faced four charges at Sagamu High Court including causing death by dangerous driving, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care, and operating without a valid licence.<\/p>\n

The chauffeur, who has driven for Joshua’s team for over three years, denied the allegations and insisted mechanical failure was to blame.<\/p>\n

Remarkably, it has emerged the boxer escaped more serious harm only because Adeniyi asked him to move from the front passenger seat to the rear moments before impact.<\/p>\n

Outside court, the driver’s 19-year-old son Ifeoluwa defended his father, saying: “Dad never speeds, he sticks to the limit. He says the brakes completely failed – he was stamping on the pedal but nothing happened.”<\/p>\n

Defence lawyer Olalekan Abiodun told reporters: “This was a tragic accident<\/a>. My client maintains the brakes malfunctioned. I understand Mr Joshua was initially sitting up front but was asked to change seats before they set off.”<\/p>\n

Adeniyi was released on bail following the hearing.<\/p>\n

Joshua left hospital on Wednesday and visited the morgue to pay his respects to his fallen friends before flying home.<\/p>\n

Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps has suggested excessive speed and a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre may have caused the crash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Joshua has arrived back in the UK after the devastating crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[894,498,895,122,893,499],"class_list":{"0":"post-603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nigeria","8":"tag-adeniyi-mobolaji-kayode","9":"tag-anthony-joshua","10":"tag-friends","11":"tag-nigeria","12":"tag-personal-trainer","13":"tag-stansted-airport"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}