KEY POINTS
- Lagos appeals to Supreme Court to reinstate Olaleye’s conviction.
- Court of Appeal ruling overturned his life sentence in 2024.
- Lagos insists prosecutors proved the defilement conviction beyond reasonable doubt.
The Lagos State Government has asked the Supreme Court to affirm the conviction of Dr. Olufemi Olaleye, who was found guilty by a lower court of defiling his wife’s 16-year-old niece.
In October 2023, the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court sentenced Dr. Olaleye, the Medical Director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, to life in jail.
Appeal court’s decision sparks Supreme Court challenge
The Court of Appeal in Lagos, however, reversed the conviction on November 29, 2024, saying that the prosecution’s evidence was not consistent.
Furthermore the judgment made rights organizations very angry, and the state had to take the case to a higher court.
Unhappy with the appellate decision, Lagos filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, asking it to reinstate the trial court’s judgment.
Olaleye objects to appeal, Lagos calls it technical
Through his counsel, Chief J. Okutepa, SAN, Dr. Olaleye filed a preliminary objection, urging the Supreme Court to strike out the appeal for lack of competence.
In response, the state government urged the court to dismiss Olaleye’s objection, further calling it “misplaced, unfounded and rooted in technicality.” It also reaffirmed its request for the apex court to restore the conviction based on the evidence already proven at trial.
The government based its appeal on four main grounds, including whether the victim’s agenever disputed during trial could suddenly become an issue at the appellate stage.
It also urged the Supreme Court to decide if prosecutors proved the offences of child defilement under Section 137 and sexual assault by penetration under Section 261 of the Lagos State Criminal Law (2015) beyond reasonable doubt, as the trial court earlier ruled before the appeal court freed the doctor.
