A trial at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja has heard testimony that Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, the driver employed by boxer Anthony Joshua, attempted an overtake manoeuvre moments before a crash that killed one person and left another with life-changing injuries on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The hearing opens a rare criminal case against a driver attached to a high-profile British athlete, set against the backdrop of Joshua’s long absence from the ring and the mounting speculation about his future.
The crash and its aftermath
Prosecutors allege that Kayode, driving a black Range Rover, moved into the opposing carriageway in an attempt to pass slower traffic at a point where visibility was poor. The vehicle collided head-on with a smaller car, killing the driver of that vehicle and seriously injuring a female passenger who was taken to hospital in critical condition. Emergency services took more than an hour to extricate the trapped occupants, and the road was closed in both directions for most of the day while forensic officers examined the wreckage.
The incident occurred in July 2024, shortly after Joshua had withdrawn from a scheduled fight in Saudi Arabia, citing injury. The timing prompted immediate speculation in Nigerian media about whether the crash was connected to the pressures surrounding the boxer’s stalled comeback, though investigators say they have found no evidence linking the two.
Case to answer
Kayode, who has been in custody since shortly after the crash, is charged with causing death by dangerous driving and a number of related offences under Nigerian law. In opening the case for the prosecution, counsel told the court that dashcam footage recovered from a passing vehicle showed the Range Rover crossing the centre line at speed, giving the jury what appeared to be clear evidence of the manoeuvre the prosecution describes. The defence has not yet entered a plea on the record, and no date has been set for the close of the prosecution’s case.
The trial has drawn sustained attention in Nigeria, where Joshua remains one of the country’s most famous sporting exports and a figure whose every public appearance generates significant coverage. His camp has not issued a statement on the proceedings, and his management team has declined to comment while the court process is ongoing.
Why it matters
The case places a spotlight on the routine use of private drivers by wealthy and high-profile individuals in Nigeria, where road safety standards and the enforcement of traffic laws have long been subjects of public concern. A conviction in a case involving a driver attached to an internationally recognised athlete would carry symbolic weight beyond the specific facts of the crash, and could renew pressure on the authorities to take a harder line on the kind of dangerous overtaking that road-safety campaigners identify as a leading cause of fatalities on the country’s major highways.
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What happens next
The prosecution is expected to call further witnesses over the coming days, including the survivor of the collision and forensic officers who examined the vehicles. If the prosecution establishes its case, the jury will then consider whether Kayode’s actions amounted to dangerous driving and whether those actions caused the death of the other driver. The trial is being heard without a jury, before a single judge in the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
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