Nigerian doctor, Olaleye, sentenced to life imprisonment for rape

A Nigerian court has sentenced a medical director to life in prison for raping his wife's teenage niece.

Dr Olufemi Olaleye is reported to have sexually assaulted the girl for more than a year until his wife found out and informed the police, the prosecutor said.

Olaleye was arraigned in November last year on two counts of rape between December 2019 and July 2022, when the girl went to live with their family.

During the trial, the doctor's wife, Aderemi Olaleye, said she discovered the abuse after the girl told her aunt and the family's driver. The girl, now 18, said the doctor had been sleeping with her and had issued death threats if she told anyone.

He was also accused of forcing her to watch pornography.

Six witnesses - the girl, the defendant's wife, a medical doctor, a child-care expert and two police officers involved in the investigations - testified in the trial.

The doctor also testified in his own defence alongside his forensic physician who faulted the medical evidence presented by the prosecution.

delivering the judgement on Tuesday, Justice Rahman Oshodi said the evidence presented before the court "greatly implicates" the defendant.

Justice Oshodi described the medical director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation as a "dangerous" offender who did not show any sign of regret.

According to the judge, Olaleye's earlier confession to the police proved that he committed the offences.

In his plea for leniency, the doctor's lawyer, Adebisi Oridate, asked the state to recognise Olaleye's services as a cancer doctor and that he was a first-time offender.

But the judge dismissed the plea and said that Olaleye must be confined to prison for a long period of time as proof that Nigeria's justice system frowned at sexual violence.

He also ordered the name of the doctor to be added to the Lagos State sex offenders register.