The cloud of grief hanging over the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has thickened as authorities identified the two victims of Anthony Joshua’s convoy accident, just as the nation recalls the similar tragedy that befell Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s convoy only days earlier.
Victims of the Joshua Crash Identified The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and close associates have confirmed that the two men who died in the Lexus SUV with Anthony Joshua yesterday were key members of his inner circle: Ayodele “Latz” Kelvin Olu and Sina “Evolve” Ghami.
Both 36-year-old British-Nigerians were far more than employees; they were Joshua’s “brothers in arms.” Ghami, his strength and conditioning coach, was instrumental in preparing the former champion for his recent bout against Jake Paul, while Olu was his personal trainer and longtime confidant.
“Speed and Obstruction” In a preliminary report released this morning, Assistant Corps Marshal Olusegun Ogungbemide of the FRSC attributed the fatal crash at Makun to a combination of “excessive speed” and “wrongful overtaking” by the driver of Joshua’s vehicle. The SUV reportedly lost control and slammed into a stationary Sinotruck parked indiscriminately by the roadside.
While Joshua survived with minor injuries and has been transferred to Duchess International Hospital in Ikeja for observation, the bodies of Olu and Ghami have been deposited at the Livewell Morgue in Sagamu.
Senate President’s Convoy Tragedy Recalled The incident has drawn a chilling parallel to a tragedy involving Nigeria’s Number Three Citizen, Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Speaking at plenary on Tuesday, Akpabio recounted how his convoy was struck by a reckless petrol tanker on the same expressway on Sunday, December 21, killing his police outrider, DSP Ibrahim Hussaini.
“My dispatch rider was run over by a tanker driver… his head was shattered,” Akpabio told the Senate, revealing that the officer was buried in Kogi State just moments before the sitting. Like Joshua’s aides, DSP Hussaini died in the line of duty, protecting his principal.
The “Truck Menace” Security experts warn that these two high-profile accidents in under ten days have exposed the anarchy on Nigeria’s busiest arterial road. Whether it is a moving tanker ramming a Senate convoy or a stationary truck claiming the lives of a global icon’s team, heavy-duty vehicles have turned the reconstructed highway into a graveyard.
VIPs Rally Around AJ Meanwhile, at Duchess International Hospital, security has been beefed up as Anthony Joshua receives high-profile visitors. Both Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu have visited the boxer, while President Tinubu has reportedly reached out to the family.
As the nation prays for Joshua’s recovery, three families—the Olus, the Ghamis, and the Hussainis—are left to mourn the devastating cost of a highway that takes no prisoners.
