The leader of a prominent cancer clinic in Nigeria has been handed a life sentence for raping his wife’s teenage niece.
Dr. Olufemi Olaleye allegedly sexually abused the girl for over a year until his wife discovered the situation and reported it to the authorities, according to the prosecutor.
The doctor had pleaded not guilty during the trial.
However, a Lagos court judge deemed the evidence against the doctor to be convincing and dismissed his plea.
Olaleye serves as the leader of the Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, an organization that provides complimentary breast and cervical cancer screening services to women.
In November of the previous year, he was brought before the court on two charges of rape, spanning from December 2019 to July 2022, a period during which the girl resided with their family.
Throughout the trial, Dr. Olaleye’s spouse, Aderemi Olaleye, revealed that she became aware of the abuse when the girl confided in her aunt and the family’s driver.
The now 18-year-old girl asserted that the doctor had engaged in sexual relations with her and had allegedly issued threats to her life if she disclosed the abuse, as recounted by the doctor’s wife.
He was also accused of forcing her to watch pornography.
A total of six witnesses took the stand during the trial, including the girl, the defendant’s spouse, a medical practitioner, a child-care specialist, and two police officers who participated in the investigations.
The doctor, in addition to presenting his own testimony in his defense, was accompanied by a forensic physician who raised objections to the medical evidence provided by the prosecution.
However, when delivering the verdict on Tuesday, Justice Rahman Oshodi stated that the evidence presented in court “greatly incriminates” the defendant.
Justice Oshodi characterized Olaleye as a “dangerous” offender who exhibited no signs of remorse.
According to the judge, Olaleye’s previous confession to the police established his culpability in the offenses.
The judge dismissed the doctor’s legal team’s contentions that the girl was coached by the defendant’s wife to provide false testimony as part of a plot to seize his assets.
“I, therefore, find the defendant guilty as charged,” the judge ruled.
“This charge has a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment,” he said.
In a plea for clemency, the doctor’s attorney, Adebisi Oridate, urged the state to acknowledge Olaleye’s contributions as a cancer specialist and highlight that he had no prior criminal record.
However, the judge rejected the plea and determined that Olaleye should be sentenced to a lengthy prison term as a demonstration of the Nigerian justice system’s strong stance against sexual violence.
Additionally, he mandated the inclusion of the doctor’s name in the Lagos State sex offenders register.
It is not clear if the doctor will appeal against the sentence.
