Boxer Anthony Joshua’s driver is expected to be charged with reckless driving ‘within the next 48 hours’, police sources in Nigeria have revealed.
The Daily Mail can identify the chauffeur as Kayode Adeniyi, 47, who has been a long standing member of Joshua’s Nigerian logistics team when he visits the west African country.
Adeniyi was discharged from hospital in Lagos late on New Year’s Eve and was driven two hours north to Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state, the region where Monday’s fatal crash took place.
He was questioned for several hours and gave an official statement of what he says happened in the minutes leading up to the crash which left two of Joshua’s closest friends dead.
A police source said: ‘The driver was released after treatment for minor injuries and was then taken to the state police headquarters for questioning.
The Daily Mail has obtained a picture of Anthony Joshua as he smiled with a baggage handler called Solomon as he arrived in Nigeria before the fateful journey
The Daily Mail can identify the chauffeur that crashed the car carrying Joshua on Monday as 47-year-old Kayode Adeniyi
‘He is in a stable condition and was able to provide us with his version of events that led up to the crash and we expect a charging decision within the next 48 hours but the bank holiday may delay proceedings.
‘It is possible he could be in court on Friday but it depends how quickly the process moves and it would be for reckless driving.’
Adeniyi was at the wheel of the Lexus and allegedly way over the 65mph speed limit for the Lagos-Ibadan expressway when he lost control after a tyre busy during an overtaking manoeuvre.
The Lexus carrying Joshua, 36, and two of his training staff, Sina Ghami and Kevin Latif Ayodele the smashed into an illegally parked truck on the hard shoulder which was carrying soya beans.
The force of the impact tore the nearside section of the car away and Ghami and Ayodele were killed instantly while Joshua and Adeniyi suffered only minor injuries.
Joshua was sat behind the driver and escaped death by inches with local first responders describing his survival as a ‘miracle’.
Joshua and the two men had arrived in Nigeria on Monday on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London and the Daily Mail has obtained a picture of him as he smiled with a baggage handler at arrivals called Solomon.
Joshua was in a horrific car crash that killed two of his best friends in Nigeria earlier this week
Joshua pictured with friends Latif Ayodele (centre) and Sina Ghami who both died in the crash
Solomon told the Daily Mail: ‘They were all smiling and laughing and joking as they walked through arrivals towards the exit.
‘I see Joshua quite often here as he comes to Nigeria regularly he was happy to pose for a picture and then he walked away waving and smiling.
‘I couldn’t believe it when I saw the news a few hours later that he had been involved in a fatal accident.’
The driver of the illegally parked truck, as exclusively revealed by the Daily Mail on New Year’s Eve, has now disappeared and there is an active police manhunt on for him.
The Daily Mail can also reveal that the coffins carrying Ghami and Ayodele were flown out of Lagos on a Turkish Airlines cargo flight that landed in Istanbul early on New Year’s Day and they are expected to fly on to London later.
