Monday, December 30, 2024 - The Lagos State Government has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal that discharged and acquitted 58-year-old medical director Dr Olufemi Olaleye of the alleged offence of d#filing his wife’s niece.
Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences and Domestic
Violence Court had on October 24, 2023, found Olaleye guilty of the two-count
charge of def!lement of a child and sexu@l assault by penetration brought
against him by the Lagos State government. The judge stated that the
defendant’s confessional statement, made before his lawyer, Olalekan Buruji,
and the DPO of Anthony Police Station, that he regretted his act, proved that
he committed the offences.
However, in November 2024, the Court of Appeal acquitted Olaleye, citing
errors in the lower court’s judgment. The court overturned the judgment on
grounds that the evidence presented by the prosecution team was “tainted” and
“unreliable,”. In the judgment delivered by Justice Jimi Olukayode Bada, the
appellate court identified numerous material contradictions in the
prosecution’s evidence that the lower court should not have relied upon.
Justice Bada also criticised aspects of the testimony from a child
forensic specialist, a medical doctor from the Mirabel Centre, and the
investigating officer, deeming their evidence “worthless.” The court further
held that the trial judge compromised the integrity of the proceedings by
attempting to fill what it termed “the yawning gaps” in the prosecution’s case.
However, in a notice of appeal dated December 27, 2024, the Lagos State
government filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, seeking to reverse the
Court of Appeal’s acquittal of Olaleye. The state’s grounds for appeal include
the argument that the appellate court erred in disregarding Section 209(2) of
the Evidence Act, 2011 and the Supreme Court decision in Dagaya and State
(2006).
The state also contended that the sworn evidence of a child above the
age of fourteen requires corroboration, as specified by Section 209(3) of the
Evidence Act, 2011, which states that the evidence of a child under 14 needs
corroboration to secure a conviction.
The state is seeking the following reliefs: an order allowing the appeal
and setting aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on November 29,
2024. “An order affirming the conviction and sentences imposed on Olaleye by
the trial court in Charge No. ID/20289C/2022.''
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