Deborah Akinyosoye
World heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua, narrowly escaped death on Monday after being involved in a road accident along the busy Lagos–Ibadan Expressway in Makun area of Ogun State.
Eyewitnesses said the accident occurred at about 11:00 a.m., just before Danco Filling Station, Makun, inward the Sagamu Interchange on the Ibadan axis of the expressway.
Joshua was reportedly travelling in a Lexus SUV with registration number KRD 850 HN, which collided with a stationary truck under circumstances that are yet to be fully ascertained. The Lexus was said to be part of a two-vehicle convoy, alongside a Pajero SUV conveying his security detail.
An eyewitness disclosed that there were four occupants in the Lexus at the time of the crash, with Joshua seated behind the driver. While the boxer sustained minor injuries, two occupants of the vehicle reportedly died on the spot.
“It was a serious crash. Joshua was sitting behind the driver with another passenger beside him, while one person was also seated beside the driver. His security team was in the vehicle behind. Immediately after the accident, we mobilised to rescue the victims and flagged down vehicles for help before FRSC officials arrived,” the eyewitness said.
Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) arrived at the scene shortly after the incident to manage the situation and evacuate victims.
Confirming the crash, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Babaseyi Oluseyi, alongside the FRSC spokesperson, Afolabi Odunsi, said investigations were ongoing and that further details would be communicated in due course.