Anthony Joshua, a Nigerian-British heavyweight boxing champion, lost two of his close friends in a horrific car accident. His uncle, Adedamola Joshua, has talked about the shock and emotional strain the family is going through.
He clarified that the family’s sorrow and uncertainty were exacerbated by the fact that they learned about the tragedy through a phone call rather than social media.
According to Adedamola Joshua’s report, the news had a profound impact on the family and sparked grave worries about emergency response systems, bystander behaviour at accident scenes, and Nigeria’s general state of road safety.
He said that the tragedy has caused the family to reconsider how accidents are handled in the nation, especially with regard to problems with fast medical attention and the propensity of bystanders to congregate rather than offer assistance.
“Well, some of us are not really used to social media, so we didn’t get to hear of it on time. But around 1 pm, one of my church members, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, called to inform me of the accident and it was like I had never in my life heard that people were involved in an accident.
“How can Anthony Joshua be involved in an accident? It sounded so impossible, but it actually happened; it is unfortunate,” he said.
He went on to say that Anthony Joshua’s Yuletide travels to Nigeria were a long-standing family tradition and had nothing to do with any particular event or celebration.
He claimed that after a senior family member who had previously organised such celebrations passed away, the custom of a sizable yearly family get-together had been discontinued.
“It has really left us in shock because this is not the first, the second, or the third time he has been coming home, so what happened? Why now?
“He just arrived in the country six hours ago on that day, and was eager to see his family in Sagamu, only for things to go the way they went,” he said.
“He could have decided to say that he wanted to spend some time with the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, or other influential Nigerians, but he said that he wanted to be with his family in Sagamu. It is really painful that such an incident happened,” he added.
Adedamola Joshua clarified the boxer’s parents’ circumstances, stating that Anthony Joshua’s mother divides her time between Nigeria and the UK, while his father primarily resides in Nigeria.
Speaking about how the accident was handled, he criticised the nation’s emergency response system, calling it insufficient.
He bemoaned the delays in rescue operations and medical care, emphasising that these failures frequently make dire circumstances worse.
In order to prevent needless deaths, he continued, the tragic tragedy once again brought attention to the critical need for greater road safety measures, better coordination among first responders, and stronger emergency services.
“I want to condemn the lackadaisical attitude of our government towards anything emergency. To see Joshua crossing the median after the accident when he was supposed to be on a stretcher was distressing,” he said.
He added, “If it had been abroad, a helicopter would have arrived at the scene within five minutes for the evacuation of the victims of the accident.”
“It is not enough to have the officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps checking vehicle documents; let there be ambulances too, stationed along this road,” he said.
“Some Nigerians act badly at accident scenes. When they are supposed to help, you will see them bringing out their phones to make videos and even steal from the victims. That is not right,” he said, adding that Anthony Joshua’s phone was reportedly stolen during the chaos.
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