The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, has attributed the survival of British Nigerian professional boxing champion, Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, to what he described as the mercy of God following a fatal road accident in southwestern Nigeria.
Pastor Adeboye made the remarks on Sunday, January 4, 2026, during the monthly thanksgiving service of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a global Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in Nigeria and headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Okay News reports that the cleric referenced the recent auto crash involving Anthony Joshua on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, a major highway linking Lagos State to Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, and one of the busiest transport corridors in Nigeria.
Joshua, a former unified heavyweight boxing world champion who holds British and Nigerian citizenship, narrowly escaped death in the accident, which occurred on Monday, December 29, 2025, according to reports shared during the church service.
The crash, however, proved fatal for two of Joshua’s close associates. They were identified as Ayodele Kelvin, a 36 year old Nigerian British citizen, and Gami Sina, also aged 36, a British citizen. Other occupants of the vehicle reportedly sustained varying degrees of injuries and were taken to medical facilities for treatment.
While teaching on the theme of divine preservation, Pastor Adeboye cited the biblical book of Lamentations Chapter Three, Verses Twenty Two to Twenty Three, stressing that human survival is sustained by mercy rather than personal skill or intelligence.
He said, “Lamentations Three Twenty Two to Twenty Three says it is by the mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed. We are alive because of the mercies of the Lord, not because of cleverness.”
The respected Christian leader further narrated what he described as a striking detail surrounding the accident, explaining that Joshua had changed seats with another passenger shortly before the crash occurred.
Pastor Adeboye stated, “I read in the newspapers yesterday that our boxing champion, Anthony Joshua, exchanged seats with someone before the accident. The people he exchanged seats with died. I do not know why, but the mercy of God said someone would still be alive today.”
Drawing from Psalm Eighty Nine, Verse One, Pastor Adeboye also emphasized the personal nature of faith and divine intervention, urging worshippers to internalize the message rather than see it as a general teaching.
He said, “I have informed us in the past that whenever something is very important to David, he uses the singular to express himself. When you hear him say, ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,’ it is personal.”
The cleric concluded by encouraging congregants to apply the lesson to their own lives, adding, “I want you to take this message personally. Maybe one or two people can join me in attaching meaning to it. I am talking to myself.”
