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 overturned 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 sometime in October 2023.

He was convicted by Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for defiling his wife?s niece. The court held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, he (Olaleye) approached the Court of Appeal in Lagos on November 29, 2024, to overturn his conviction, citing inconsistencies in the evidence presented by the prosecution.

Lagos State, therefore, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, challenging the appellate court?s verdict in the case of Dr. Olaleye, who was acquitted of defilement charges.

But Dr. Olaleye, through his counsel, Chief J.S. Okutepa (SAN), filed an objection against the appeal.

The respondent?s counsel, in the Notice of Preliminary Objection dated September 29, 2025, prayed the apex court to strike out the appeal for want of competence.

However, responding to the preliminary objection, the state government urged the Supreme Court to disregard the respondent?s submissions based on the reasons advanced in its brief of argument dated August 18, 2025, and allow the appeal by reinstating the trial Court?s judgment.

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 questions bordering on technicality.

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; whether the appellant has successfully proved the offenses 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 doubt as required by law among others. (The Guardian)

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