Lagos doctor, Olaleye, sentenced to life imprisonment for raping wife’s niece

Olufemi Olaleye, the medical director of the Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, has been sentenced to life in prison by the Lagos State Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence sitting in Ikeja for the rape of his wife’s niece.

On Tuesday, October 24, the presiding Judge Rahman Oshodi declared Olaleye guilty of defiling and penetrating a 15-year-old girl sexually.

It was decided that by presenting the court with evidence that backed up the victim’s testimony, the prosecution had established its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Olaleye, the defendant, was accused of committing two offenses between March 2020 and November 2021 that involved defilement and sexual assault by penetrating his wife’s niece.

On November 30, 2022, the prisoner was arraigned and entered a not guilty plea to the offenses.

According to Dr. Babajide Martins, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Olaleye committed the crime at 17 Layi Ogunbambi Close in Maryland, Lagos State.

The prosecution claims that the offenses were under Sections 137 and 261 of Lagos State’s 2015 criminal code.

Olaleye was given N50 million in bail with two sureties on November 20. He was then placed under arrest at the Ikoyi Correctional Facility until his bail requirements were met.

His attorney, Babatunde Ogala, filed an application for bail on the grounds that the defendant was a well-known cancer care advocate and that remanding him in jail would be detrimental to his patients while the case was pending.

According to the senior attorney, the charges brought against his client did not amount to “grievous allegations like treason” that call for the death penalty.

In the meantime, the court decided that he should be given bail and mandated that, among other things, both sureties produce documentation of their tax payments to the Lagos state government during the previous three years.

On December 21, however, the court lowered his bond amount from N50 million to N40 million after reviewing his bail requirements.

The defendant’s wife, who first reported the case to the police, was one of the witnesses called by the prosecution during the trial.

The others include police inspector Esther Igbineweka, medical examiner Akinbunmi Oyebimpe, child forensics expert Bisi Ajayi-Kayode, unnamed victim, and police officer Abe Leonard.

Aderemi Olaleye, the wife, testified in court that her husband had been abusing her niece sexually while she was residing with them.

In her testimony, she further stated that the defendant had shown the victim porn and had orally intercourse with her, ending with an ejaculation in her mouth.

According to the witness, the girl had confided in their driver and a relative, revealing that the doctor had engaged in sexual relations with her and had threatened to hurt her if she told anybody about the harassment.

On oath, the complainant stated, “My lord, on November 27, 2021, my second cousin informed my aunty, my mother’s sister, that Femi had been abusing her sexually since March 2020 and had exposed her to pornography.”

After that, he advanced to having oral sex with her, which he does in various uncamera-free areas of the house.

Six out of ten children experience physical, sexual, or mental assault before the age of eighteen. Nigerian females have long been victims of sexual harassment and molestation. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, almost 70% of children encounter this violence on a regular basis (UNICEF).