Adedamola Joshua, the uncle of former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, has criticized the emergency response team of Nigeria and the predatory behavior of bystanders at the scene of the accident on December 29.
Speaking from the family’s hometown of Sagamu, the uncle revealed that while the champion survived with minor injuries, he was robbed of his mobile phone while his two close friends and training staff, Kevin Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami, lay dead in the wreckage.
The accident occurred just six hours after Joshua arrived in Nigeria for the holiday season. The boxer, who frequently returns to his roots in Ogun State, was traveling to see his family when his Lexus SUV collided with a stationary truck.
It was reported that Joshua only survived because he moved to the back seat shortly before the crash to allow the driver a better view of the side mirrors.
The traditional festive gathering of the family has been canceled as they mourn the two British-Nigerian colleagues.
The Uncle condemned how Joshua was evacuated to another vehicle on foot instead of a stretcher, due to the lack of specialized ambulance service at the scene.
How can you celebrate when your son is in the hospital and two of his friends… are being taken back in body bags? It has really cast a shadow on our celebration. In such trauma, the stress must be minimized. He was supposed to have been put in an ambulance… If it had been abroad, a helicopter would have arrived at the scene within five minutes – Adedamola Joshua, Uncle of Anthony Joshua
Dawn Herald gathered that bystanders were filming the carnage for social media views and also stealing personal items from the victims. Joshua’s major mobile phone was stolen during the event.
Leave a comment