Dr. Femi Olaleye, the Managing Director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, has been confronted with two confessional statements he allegedly made in detention over allegation of defiling his wife’s niece.
At his trial before Justice Rahmon Oshodi of the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, sitting in Ikeja, on Monday, the defendant was ordered to read excerpts from the statement.
From the document he read in open court, he stated that he regrets touching the breasts and private part of the then 17year old.
During his cross examination, the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Babajide Martins had presented the defendant with the statement he made at the Anthony Police station on November 29, 2021, which he read from.
The document was among several exhibits tendered and admitted at the resumed hearing of the case.
However, Dr Olaleye told the Court that the said date where he made the statement was six days after he had been in detention, and that he was subjected to intense interrogations and duress beforehand.
The defendant also denied being diagnosed by a psychiatrist, Dr Peter Ogunnubi for sexual addiction at the time, contesting an email evidence he was alleged to have sent to his wife, Remi.
But, he was asked to read out a portion of the undertaking he made with the police, where he allegedly confessed to performing oral sex on his alleged victim and that he had gone for rehabilitation.
Again, he told the court that he was forced to write the undertaking.
Earlier, Dr Olaleye gave evidence while being led in his examination-in-chief by his counsel, Segun Fabunmi, SAN, that he left his phones with his mother and went to the police station, upon his invitation for questioning.
He added that his wife collected the devices from his mom and she doctored emails and messages from his phone.
“I thought I was going for a friendly chat. I was later informed that my wife collected the devices from my mom.
After my release, I was trying to assess what happened, the obvious option was to reach out to family and weigh my legal options. My wife had been stalking my social media handles and using my phone to commit fraud.
“I have an app, my wife used it to apply for a credit card, I had to intercept it.
I also noticed that in an attempt to seek an amicable divorce as we knew the marriage was over, she doctored emails and messages from my phones, claiming they were messages from me.
When I noted these criminal activities, I was forced to cancel the mtn line and got a new one.
“I changed the passwords of my social media accounts.
“While that was going on, I got a call that my Mercedes Benz 350 GME had a different plate number which she had illegally changed the ownership of the vehicle, a fact she confessed to.
In order to prove ownership of the vehicles, I needed to go to the bank to retrieve the bank statements but I was shown a letter purportedly written by her claiming to be me seeking to change the joint signature status to her name alone, it was in her handwriting but she put my name.
“She told the bank manager that I travelled to the UK.”
Contending the child defilement charges, the defendant who left the dock to testify from the witness box, denied introducing the alleged survivor to pornography.
He said his wife, who is the complainant in the case, escalated the allegations before the gender unit of the Lagos Command headquarters, against the background of ongoing marital disputes between them.
“I made a statement at the police station explaining some of the background and said she was weaponising the allegations to take over my property, get rid of me and tarnish my career.
She made me sign an MOU while I’m detention, containing 18 or 19 paragraphs before I could be released. Some of the conditions included a transfer of ownership of my house, a large sum of money was ordered to be forfeited from the joint account, payment of monthly allowance monthly of N470,000 to cover upkeep for she and the children, N50,000 for home tutors and cook’s salaries. After my release,
I wrote a petition to the Attorney General of the state, because I didn’t know where this was going.”
The state government instituted the case against Dr Olaleye in November 2022.
He is facing a two-count charge of alleged defilement and sexual assault by penetration.
The alleged offences violate Sections 137 and 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. He risks a life imprisonment if found guilty.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the case until June 1 for continuation of trial.