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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 the southwestern state of Ogun said on Friday.
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 in southwest Nigeria when the Lexus SUV in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary truck on Monday.
“The defendant was granted bail in the sum of five million naira (€2,960) with two sureties. He was remanded pending when he meets his bail condition,” police spokesman Oluseyi Babaseyi told the AFP news agency.
Joshua will initially stay in Nigeria as he recuperates from injuries sustained after the crash, his promoter said on Thursday.
“As reported, Anthony was released from hospital last night and will remain in Nigeria over the coming days,” Matchroom Boxing said in a statement.
A vehicle carrying the former heavyweight champion and two of his associates crashed into a stationary truck on Monday on a major thoroughfare, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which links Ogun state to Lagos.
The two associates, Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele, were killed.
Joshua was released from a Lagos hospital on Wednesday afternoon and he paid his respects to his deceased friends at the morgue.
Joshua has family roots in Nigeria and briefly attended boarding school there as a child. He also holds Nigerian nationality.
The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, said on Wednesday that Joshua had been discharged after being deemed clinically fit to recuperate from “home.”
Ghami was Joshua’s strength and conditioning coach while Ayodele was a trainer. Just hours before the crash, Joshua and Ayodele posted clips on social media playing table tennis together.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
