•Joshua, friends and driver (inset)
Moments after his discharge from the hospital late on New Year’s Eve, boxing superstar Anthony Joshua was driven to the funeral home where his two friends and aides were kept to pay them emotional respects.
Kevin Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami, both 36, were killed after the Lexus SUV they were all travelling in, ran into a stationary truck on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Sagamu, Ogun State, on Monday.
There is fear in his camp about how the boxing star will deal with the trauma of losing the two close friends, according to the Daily Mail of London.
Mobolaji Kayode, who drove the ill-fated Lexus, was yesterday arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court in Sagamu for reckless driving.
Kayode, 46, was arrested by the police shortly after he was discharged from a private hospital in Lagos on Wednesday, where he had received medical care following the accident.
Joshua’s associate, Kolawole Omoboriowo, who broke the news of the accident to the boxer’s family, is worried about getting AJ, as he is fondly called, “out of that traumatised situation?”
‘What is actually in my head now is: “How do we get AJ out of that traumatised situation? And that is just the only thing that everybody is worried about right now,” the Daily Mail London quoted him as telling Sky News.
He added, “Right now, everybody might think AJ is okay. But we don’t know how he’s going to take it.
“But right now we just want everybody to actually give him a moment to actually relax, rest, and we pick it up from there.
“We just need to keep praying for AJ, for God to give him the strength to be able to carry on with these losses.”
The Ogun State Police Command yesterday confirmed that it arraigned Kayode in court for alleged reckless driving that claimed the lives of Joshua’s close friends.
He was charged on four counts, including:
*Dangerous driving causing death, contrary to Section 5(1) of the Federal Highway Act, Cap F: 135, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (as applicable in Ogun State).
*Reckless and negligent driving, contrary to Section 6(1) of the same Act.
*Driving without due Care and attention, causing bodily harm and damage to property, contrary to Section 7(1) of the Act.
*Driving without a valid National Driver’s Licence, contrary to Section 10(1) of the Federal Highway Act.
The defendant was granted bail in the sum of ₦5,000,000 (Five Million Naira) with two sureties.
He was remanded pending when he meets his bail condition
The case was adjourned to January 20, 2026 for trial.
