Femi Ashekun/
The Lagos State Government has taken its legal battle against medical doctor, Dr Olufemi Olaleye, to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn his acquittal by the Court of Appeal and reinstate his conviction for the defilement of his wife’s 16-year-old niece.
Olaleye, Medical Director of the Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, was convicted by the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on October 24, 2023 and sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Rahman Oshodi, who ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
However, the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, later quashed the conviction, citing contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence and describing the testimonies of the doctor’s estranged wife, Oluremi, and the alleged victim as “tainted” and “unreliable.”
Unconvinced by the appellate decision, the Lagos State Government has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, urging it to restore the trial court’s verdict.
In its brief of argument dated August 18, 2025, the state described the Court of Appeal’s reasoning as legally flawed and overly technical, insisting that the prosecution’s case was properly established at trial.
Olaleye, through his counsel, Chief J. S. Okutepa (SAN), has filed a preliminary objection dated September 29, 2025, asking the apex court to dismiss the government’s appeal for lack of competence.
The state, in turn, has urged the court to reject the objection and proceed to hear the substantive appeal.
The government’s case rests on four key grounds, including whether the issue of the victim’s age, which was never disputed during trial, could legitimately be raised at the appellate stage, and whether the prosecution had indeed proven the offences of child defilement and sexual assault by penetration under Sections 137 and 261 of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015.
The Supreme Court’s decision will determine whether Olaleye’s acquittal stands or if his life sentence will be reinstated.
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