Concerns over roads in Nigeria after crash that injured Anthony Joshua and killed 2 associates

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — There were growing concerns about Nigeria's roads following the deadly crash on Monday that injured British former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and killed two close associates near Lagos.

Joshua, a two-time heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist, was under “observation” while recovering from minor injuries following the crash, his promoter said Monday.

Nigeria's Federal Road Safety Corps said the accident along a major highway connecting Lagos, the country's economic hub, and Ogun state was a result of “excessive speed and wrongful overtaking,” which had caused the car to collide with a stationary truck by the roadside. Eyewitnesses say the vehicle's tire had burst at high speed.

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.

The former world heavyweight champion, who also holds Nigerian nationality, is in “stable condition” and would remain in hospital for further “observation” according to his promoter, Matchroom Boxing. Joshua's long-term friends and team members, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, were killed in the crash, the promoter said in a statement posted on X.

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.

Concerns over frequent road crashes in Nigeria

The high-profile accident has prompted serious concerns about road safety on Nigerian highways, 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.

Experts say a combination of factors including a network of dilapidated roads, lax enforcement of traffic laws, and indiscipline by drivers, produces the grim statistics.

The stationary truck that Joshua's vehicle hit is a fixture of Nigeria's thoroughfares, often causing massive gridlocks. Goods and food are transported across Nigeria’s vast geographical reach via these trucks, which experts say tend to be in poor condition and are responsible for many accidents.

“The prevalence of accidents in Nigeria is a serious issue,” Ache Ogu, the CEO of the Road Accident Prevention Network Centre, an Abuja-based nongovernmental organization, told The Associated Press. “Most of the trucks are not in order, and the law enforcement agency needs to step up its efforts.”

Monisola Abosede, a 27-year-old marketer who lives in Lagos and commutes several kilometers every weekday for work, has been involved in two accidents in December alone.

“In Lagos, everyone is in a rush to get somewhere; people are always on the move,” she told The AP, blaming crashes on the city's heavy traffic combined with the bad state of its road network.