The Lagos State Government has asked the Supreme Court to affirm the conviction of Dr Olufemi Olaleye, who was convicted for defiling his wife’s 16-year-old niece by the State High Court, but was later set free by the Court of Appeal.
Dr Olaleye, the Medical Director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, was initially sentenced to life imprisonment by the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in October 2023.
However, the Court of Appeal in Lagos, on November 29, 2024, overturned Dr Olaleye’s conviction, citing inconsistencies in the evidence presented by the prosecution.
Dissatisfied with the appellate court’s verdict, the state government approached the Supreme Court to challenge the acquittal of defilement charges against Dr Olaleye.
But Dr Olaleye, through his lawyer, Chief J. S. Okutepa (SAN), filed an objection against the appeal.
In his notice of preliminary objection dated September 29, 2025, Okutepa prayed the apex court to strike out the appeal for want of competence.
However, in its response to the preliminary objection, the state government urged the Supreme Court to discountenance the submissions of the respondent based on the reasons advanced in its brief of argument dated 18th August, 2025, and allow the appeal by reinstating the judgment of the trial court.
The state government, in its detailed response to the preliminary objection filed by Dr Olaleye, argued that the respondent’s application is misplaced, unfounded and full of technicalities.
The state’s ground of appeal rests on four major pillars, each pointing to why the apex court should affirm the conviction of Dr Olaleye by the trial court.
In ground three, the state government wants the apex court to determine whether the issue of the age of the victim (PW2), which was not contested, disputed or raised during trial, can be made an issue at the appellate stage.
Besides, the government equally wants the apex court to determine whether it has successfully proved the offences of defilement of a child contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Law, CAP 17, VOL 3 Laws of Lagos State 2015 and sexual assault by penetration contrary to Section 261 of the Criminal Law, CAP 17, and Vol 3 Laws of Lagos State 2015 against the respondent beyond reasonable doubts as required by law, among others.
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