Dr. Olufemi Olaleye, the Medical Director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, is appealing the judgment of the lower court that convicted him of rape.
The Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja found him guilty of defiling his wife’s 16-year-old niece and sentenced him to life imprisonment on October 24th.
Justice Rahman Oshodi, the trial judge, held that the prosecution proved the two charges of defilement and sexual assault by penetration against Olaleye.
However, in a notice of appeal, Olaleye, through his lawyer Dr. Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, argued that the lower court was wrong to have relied on the evidence presented by the prosecution against him.
Pinheiro contended that the prosecution’s case lacked credible independent corroborative evidence, which is required in cases of defilement or sexual assault of a child.
He also highlighted that the lower court failed to invoke Section 167(d) of the Evidence Act 2011 when the prosecution did not present the birth certificate of the alleged victim.
Pinheiro urged the appellate court to discharge and acquit Olaleye of the offences and set aside the decision of the lower court contained in the judgment delivered on the 24th day of October 2023.
