The Lagos State Sexual Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has listened to the testimony of the alleged survivor in the defilement trial against the Managing Director of Optimal cancer care foundation, Dr. Femi Olaleye.
The survivor whose names are withheld to protect her identity, arrived at the court on Wednesday, with her face covered with a shawl in the company of some family members including the wife of the defendant who filed the complaint against him.
The Lagos State Government had arraigned Olaleye on November 30 on a two-count charge of alleged defilement of a child and sexual assault by penetration, which he pleaded not guilty to.
At the last sitting of the court on Monday, Aderemi Fagbemi Olaleye told Justice Ramon Oshodi that her husband sexually abused the minor between December 2019 and July 2022, when she came to live with their family.
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 and the witness if she tells anyone.
At the resumption of the hearing, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Dr, Babajide Martins who is prosecuting the case on behalf of the Lagos State Government, called up the alleged survivor, who is now 18 years old, to testify.
He however applied to the court for the courtroom to be cleared to enable her to testify in privacy. The DPP cited section 36(6)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandates a court to disallow members of the public from being present in the courtroom in the interest of her welfare.
In his response, lead defence counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Babatunde Ogala said though the witness has attained adulthood, he would not object to the application on the basis of morality.
Justice Oshodi in his ruling ordered that the courtroom be closed to the public, including journalists.
After the closed testimony, the court was then open to the public and the defence counsel applied for a variation of the bail conditions granted to the defendant on November 30, 2022.
At that sitting, the defendant was granted bail in the sum of N50m naira, with two sureties in like sum who were to deposit in the court, original title documents of their landed properties in Lagos State, file an affidavit of means and produce evidence of payment of income tax within the past 3 years.
The defence counsel argued that the defendant was still in the custody of the correctional centre, Ikoyi because he could not meet the bail conditions stipulated by the court. He also told the court that the situation had made it difficult for the legal team to easily meet with the defendant and prepare adequately for his defence.
He appealed to the court to give the “most liberal bail conditions” in order to allow the defendant to meet the bail conditions.
The senior lawyer moved an application and urged the court to reduce the bail sum to N10 million and that one of the sureties should be a relative or a professional colleague of the defendant.
The prosecution had no objection to the application.
In his ruling, Justice Oshodi disagreed that the bail conditions should vary based on the terms suggested by the senior lawyer.
Instead, the court admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N40 million with two sureties in like sum.
The sureties must be owners of landed properties in Lagos State and each property, which original title documents are to be deposited with the court, must be sufficient to cover the bail sum.
As with the earlier conditions, the sureties are to file an affidavit of means, and produce evidence of payment of income tax within the past three years, while the defendant is to deposit his international passport, British passport and all other travel documents with the court. The court then adjourned to January 3, January 4, 2023 for the continuation of the trial.
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