Adedamola Joshua, an uncle of Anthony Joshua, revealed that they heard the British heavyweight boxer’s phone was stolen at the scene of the car crash that took the lives of two of his close friends.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Joshua, 36, was riding in a Lexus SUV with his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele on an expressway in Ogun State, Nigeria, on December 29 when the vehicle collided with a stationary truck. Joshua got injured, but Ghami and Ayodele did not survive.
In an interview with The Punch, Adedamola Joshua revealed that his nephew had been in Nigeria for just six hours before the fatal crash, adding that the former two-time world heavyweight champion was headed to the town of Sagamu to spend the Christmas holidays with his family.
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“It has really left us in shock because this is not the first, the second, or the third time he has been coming home, so what happened? Why now? He just arrived in the country six hours ago on that day, and was eager to see his family in Sagamu, only for things to go the way they went,” Adedamola Joshua disclosed.
Joshua’s uncle registered his displeasure with the actions of some of the bystanders at the fatal accident scene. He also revealed that they heard Joshua’s phone was even stolen at the accident scene.
“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,” he said.
READ ALSO: Boxing world sends support to Anthony Joshua after tragic accident in Nigeria
“We even heard that Anthony Joshua’s phone was stolen during the accident; such attitudes must be discouraged. The police and other emergency responders should get to the scene of an accident on time and cordon off the place.”
Adedamola Joshua added: “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.
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.”
Meanwhile, the individual who was driving Joshua and his deceased friends has since been arrested and charged in connection with the fatal crash.
Per BBC, the driver, identified as 46-year-old Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care, and driving without a valid driver’s licence.
On Sunday, Joshua took to social media to break his silence in the wake of the fatal crash. The 36-year-old shared two photos on Instagram, with one of them showing him sitting with his mother as well as the mothers of Ghami and Ayodele.
READ ALSO: Anthony Joshua on not wanting his son to box: ‘I don’t think it’s a wise decision’
