LAGOS, Nigeria — The driver in a deadly car crash that injured heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and killed his two friends in Nigeria was charged, the police said on Friday.

Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was charged with dangerous and reckless driving in southwestern Ogun state following Monday’s crash, police spokesman Oluseyi Babaseyi said in a statement on Friday.

The vehicle carrying Joshua, Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele hit a stationary truck on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which links Ogun state to Lagos.

Kayode has been in custody since Thursday following his release from hospital, and was subsequently granted bail of 5 million naira ($3,480), Babaseyi told the Associated Press.

The defendant was charged on four counts, including dangerous driving causing death, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care as well as driving without a valid national driver’s license.

“He was remanded pending when he meets his bail condition,” the police spokesman said.

The court case was adjourned to Jan. 20 for trial.

Joshua, a two-time heavyweight champion, was released from hospital on Wednesday after sustaining minor injuries in the crash that raised questions about road safety in Nigeria. The boxer was discharged after being deemed clinically fit to recuperate at home, authorities said.

Joshua has family roots in Nigeria and he briefly attended boarding school there as a child. He also holds Nigerian nationality.

Joshua’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing, told The AP on Thursday that the boxer will remain in Nigeria.

ABUJA, Nigeria — British boxer Anthony Joshua has been released from hospital, Nigerian authorities said late Wednesday night.

The two-time former heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist was involved in a fatal road crash near Lagos on Monday which killed two of his close associates and team members.

Joshua had been under “observation” at Lagoon Hospital in Lagos while recovering from minor injuries, his promoter said Monday.

The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, said in a statement on X that Joshua was discharged late Wednesday afternoon after being deemed clinically fit to recuperate from “home.”

“Anthony and his mother were at the funeral home in Lagos this afternoon to pay their final respects to his two departed friends as they were being prepared for repatriation scheduled for later this evening,” Omotosho said.

Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele were killed in the crash. 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.

The accident has elicited growing concerns about road safety in Nigeria, where accidents are common.

The West African nation recorded 5,421 deaths in 9,570 road accidents in 2024, according to data by the country’s Federal Road Safety Corps. Its data showed 340 more people were killed in road accidents last year compared to 2023.

Joshua had recently won a bout against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul on Dec. 19, a fight he used to improve fitness in a bid to contest future top-flight boxing titles.

Anthony Joshua, the Nigerian-British boxer and former world heavyweight champion, was involved in a car accident that killed two other passengers in Nigeria on Monday

LAGOS, Nigeria — Anthony Joshua, the Nigerian-British boxer and former world heavyweight champion, was involved in a car accident that killed two other passengers in Nigeria on Monday.

The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, confirmed the accident in a post on X, adding that the government had sent ambulances to the crash site. Local media reports say the boxer has been transferred to a hospital.

According to a statement by Olusegun Ogungbemide, spokesperson for the Federal Road Safety Corps, preliminary investigations indicate the vehicle “to be travelling beyond the legally prescribed speed limit on the corridor, lost control during an overtaking manoeuvre and crashed into a stationary truck well packed by the side of the road.”

Photos on social media show the boxer being extricated from a wrecked vehicle while he was wincing in pain.

The accident occurred on a major thoroughfare linking Ogun state, a nearby city, to Lagos, the country’s economic center.

“Anthony Joshua is in an undisclosed hospital being treated for his injuries,” Lanre Ogunlowo, the commissioner of police for Ogun state, told the AP. He said he has no further information on the injuries.

Nigeria is the homeland of Joshua’s parents and where he briefly went to boarding school at the age of 11.

Joshua had recently beaten YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a bout in Miami on Dec. 19, which he was using to regain sharpness in the ring ahead of an attempt to reclaim the world heavyweight title, which he lost in 2021 to Oleksandr Usyk.

He has been in talks to fight fellow Briton Tyson Fury in 2026.