General
Lagos Court Sentences Doctor to Life Imprisonment for Séχual Assault
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos State Séχual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced the Medical Director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, Dr Olufemi Olaleye, to life imprisonment for defiling his wife’s niece when the minor was around 15 years old.
In his judgment, Justice Rahman Oshodi held that the prosecutor, the Lagos State Government, had proved the charge against the defendant and the evidence against him was compelling.
Dr Olaleye was arraigned on November 30, 2022, on a two-count charge of defilement and séχual assault by penetration of the minor between December 2019 and July 2022 when she came to live with their family.
The prosecution, led by Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Babajide Martins, had told the court that Dr Olaleye séχually assaulted his wife’s niece for about 19 months until the wife discovered and reported it to the police. The minor is said to be 18 years old now.
At his arraignment, the doctor pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him.
The prosecution subsequently called six witnesses as proof of its case against him. The minor, the defendant’s wife, a medical doctor and another child care expert, both of whom examined the minor as well as two police officers involved in the investigations, testified in the trial.
The defendant also testified in his own defence alongside his friend of over 40 years as well as his forensic physician who faulted the medical evidence presented by the prosecution.
Having evaluated all the evidence before him, Justice Oshodi noted that it was compelling.
According to the judge, Dr Olaleye’s confessional statement before his former counsel, Mr Olalekan Buruji, and the Divisional Police Officer at the Anthony Police Station, Lagos State, proved that he committed the offences.
The judge held that Mr Olaleye said in the statement that he regretted his act.
The judge also held that the medical practitioner’s denial of the statement during the trial did not hold water.
Justice Oshodi described the medical director as a dangerous offender who did not show any sign of remorse during the trial.
“You acknowledged that you are a séχ addict in your confession but came to this court and told lies.
“You showed no remorse, and it shows that you are a dangerous man.
“The survivor, to your knowledge, is a child but you forced her to watch pόrnόgraphy, rub her breasts and put your pénis in her mouth.
“You penetrated her repeatedly,’’ Oshodi said.
The court found the defendant guilty of the offence.
In his plea for leniency, counsel to the convict, Mr Adebisi Oridate said: “He is a medical doctor who offers services to people suffering from cancer-related ailments, especially women.
“The state recognises his services and the defendant is a first-time offender. He has lost his business because he has been incarcerated, and, of course, his family.
“He has an aged mother who is dependent solely on him. We pray your lordship to temper justice with mercy.”
In sentencing, Justice Oshodi said, “By the laws of Lagos State, I am compelled to hand you a sentence of life imprisonment on each count of your offence, but your counsel has said that you are a first-time offender and a doctor of cancer patients.
“I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment on both counts one and two.”
The judge also directed that Dr Olaleye should have his name written in the Séχual Offences Register of the Lagos State Government.
During the trial, the convict’s wife, Mrs Aderemi Olaleye, had told the court in her testimony that her husband had been séχually abusing her niece during her stay in their house.
Mrs Olaleye said she got to know about the alleged crimes after the survivor confessed to her aunt and the family’s driver that the doctor had been sleeping with her and threatening to kill her if she told anyone.
The mother of two, who is the complainant said on oath, “My lord, on November 27, 2021, my second cousin told my aunty who is my mother’s sister that since March 2020, Femi has been séχually abusing her and introduced her to pόrnόgraphy, from there he graduated to oral séχ with her, that he does this in different places in the house where there are no cameras”.
The offences contravene the provision of Sections 137 and 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) says it arrested 210 suspects for vandalism, fraud, and illegal mining in the last 18 months as part of its anti-vandalism drive.
The Ogun State Commandant, Mrs Remilekun Ekundayo, disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, council in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Mrs Ekundayo said the command had also recovered over N23 million in fraud-related cases for victims and resolved more than 1,700 disputes through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms within the same period.
She added that the command has sustained intelligence-driven operations that have prevented several criminal activities and ensured the protection of pipelines, railway corridors, and power installations across the state.
While stressing that security remains a shared responsibility, Mrs Ekundayo called for stronger collaboration with the media to enhance public awareness and safety in the state.
According to her, the visit was aimed at strengthening cooperation between the corps and the media, describing journalists as critical partners in the state’s security architecture.
“In matters of security, your role becomes even more strategic and impactful,” she said.
“The NSCDC is statutorily empowered to protect critical national assets and infrastructure, prevent vandalism and economic sabotage, and support disaster management and emergency response,” she said.
In his remarks, the Ogun State Chairman of the NUJ, Mr Wale Olanrewaju, assured the commandant of the council’s support and continued partnership through accurate and prompt reporting of security issues.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mr Christopher Musa, says the capture of a key Malian town by rebels poses a threat to West Africa that requires foreign intervention to prevent the insurgency from spreading.
A series of coordinated attacks by militants in late April left Mali’s Defence Minister dead and forced Malian and Russian mercenary forces to withdraw from the northeastern stronghold of Kidal.
Mr Musa, a retired army general, said in an interview with Bloomberg that the international community must come together to deal with the insurgents before they wreak havoc on the region.
The deteriorating situation in Mali may trigger a wider regional crisis, the defence minister said.
His admittance comes as the border region of Nigeria, Benin and Niger on the southern edge of the Sahel region is becoming a new stronghold for jihadists, as militants turn forests and pastoral networks in West Africa into bases for recruitment and international attacks.
“If they allow them to get any foothold in Mali, completely, they are not stopping there,” he warned.
He called for a joint campaign style like that of the United States against the Islamic State in Syria as a way to root out terrorists in West Africa.
General Musa noted that the collapse of states across the region has been the main driver of arms proliferation, with coastal West African states, including Ghana and Togo, becoming increasingly vulnerable.
He cited the fall of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 as a turning point that released vast stockpiles of weapons into circulation, a problem compounded by ongoing instability in Sudan.
The combined crises have created an open corridor across the Sahel, allowing small arms, light weapons and ammunition to flow largely unchecked.
He added that this has worsened due to weak border controls and the ease of movement across the region.
Attacks in Nigeria have also risen, with data from the website of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a conflict-monitoring group, affirming that the number of suicide bombings in Nigeria by March already matched the annual average over the past six years.
The Nigerian military has also been dealt a blow to its military bases and senior figures targeted. In April, Brigadier-General Oseni Omoh Braimah was killed when Islamist fighters attacked a base in Borno State.
The minister said disruptions linked to global conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, as well as the ongoing war in Iran, have made it harder to source weapons even when funding is available. To meet its defence goals, Nigeria is stepping up efforts to build domestic arms-manufacturing capacity.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A former Minister of Power in Nigeria, Mr Saleh Mamman, has been convicted by a Federal High Court in Abuja over his connection with a N33.8 billion fraud.
He was found guilty of a 12-count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
While delivering his judgment on Thursday, Justice James Omotosho declared that the former government official is guilty of all the charges levied against him by the agency.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/273/2024, the EFCC informed the court that the convict, who served under the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari, conspired with ministry staff to divert about N22 billion meant for the Zungeru and Mambilla Hydro Electric Power projects.
He was removed from office by the late president in 2021 and arrested by the anti-money laundering organisation four months after. He was said to have used embezzled funds of up to N33.8 billion to acquire properties.
At the court today, the judge confirmed that Mr Mamman made a cash payment of $655,700 (equivalent to N200 million) for landed property in Abuja, without recourse to a financial institution.
He was also found guilty of criminal breach of trust in relation to funds released by the federal government for the Mambilla and Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant projects.
“The evidence of the prosecution is overwhelming against the scanty and almost absent defence of the defendant.
“The defendant did not offer any credible evidence to rebut the prosecution’s case,” Justice Omotosho held.
“Rather than creating a legacy to tackle the epileptic power supply in the country, the defendant was living large at the expense of ordinary citizens.
“Little wonder that Nigerians have remained in darkness till today,” the judge added.
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