05/12/2025
Lagos-based medical doctor, Dr. Femi Olaleye, who was previously convicted by a Lagos High Court, but later acquitted by the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, is to be arraigned at Maidstone Crown Court, Kent, United Kingdom on Friday December 5 over alleged s*xu@l offences.
The offences were said to have occurred before Dr Olaleye's relocation to Nigeria several years ago.
The case, with No 46/XY/11332/23, is slated for 9am at the UK court.
Dr. Olaleye was reportedly picked up Thursday last week at the Heathrow Airport in London.
The medical doctor, who was like a father figure to the victim, was alleged to have attempted to bribe the minor to alter her testimony; an offer the child reportedly rejected.
Dr. Olaleye was convicted in 2023 by Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court. However, the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling and set him free.
Dissatisfied with the appellate judgment, the Lagos State Government, through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, filed a further appeal at the Supreme Court seeking to reinstate the High Court conviction. A hearing date is still pending.
Sources in the UK alleged that the doctor had been linked to multiple s*xual offences during his earlier stay in London but allegedly left the country before prosecution could commence.
He later faced similar accusations in Nigeria, which led to his initial conviction, subsequent acquittal, and eventual departure from the country following the Appeal Court ruling.
Dr. Olaleye is reportedly being held at North Kent Police Station, Thames Way, Northfleet, Kent, pending his arraignment in the UK court tomorrow.
Dr. Olaleye, Medical Director of the Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Lagos State Sexu@l Offences and Domestic Violence Court in October 2023, but the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on November 29, 2024, set aside the conviction, citing inconsistencies in the prosecution’s evidence.
Now, Lagos State is asking the Supreme Court to reinstate the conviction — a move legal analysts say could redefine how appellate courts handle cases involving s*xual violence and child protection laws in Nigeria.
According to the state’s notice of appeal, the government believes the appellate decision undermined the credibility of trial court findings in sensitive s*xual offence cases.
“The respondent’s application is misplaced, unfounded and smirks of technicality,” the state argued, urging the apex court to “discountenance the submissions of the respondent based on the reasons advanced in its brief of argument dated August 18 2025.”
The state government’s appeal rests on four key grounds, questioning whether the Court of Appeal was right to upturn the conviction despite what it described as clear, uncontested evidence of the victim’s age and testimony.
