Alleged Rape: Court Reviews Lagos Doctor, Olaleye’s Bail Condition
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The Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja, Lagos State, has reduced the bail sum of an alleged rapist, Femi Olaleye.
The judge, Rahman Oshodi, reduced the sum from N50 million to N40 million on Wednesday.
Mr Olaleye, a Lagos-based doctor, had through his lawyer, Babatunde Ogala, asked the court to vary his bail conditions.
He was granted bail on 30 November but has yet to meet the conditions.
Mr Olaleye, who is the managing director of the Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, is facing a two-count charge of defilement and sexual assault by penetration of his wife’s niece when she was 16 years old.
Her niece, the alleged rape survivor, turned 18 years old in March.
The accused was arraigned by the Lagos State government in November and pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him.
He was granted bail but has yet to fulfil the conditions.
The bail was reviewed after the defendant’s lawyer, Mr Ogala, argued that the defendant was still in the custody of the correctional centre because he could not meet the bail conditions stipulated by the court.
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 prayed the court to reduce the bail sum to N10 million and that one of the sureties should be a relative or a colleague of the accused person.
Ruling on the application, the judge, Rahman Oshodi, disagreed that the bail conditions should vary based on the terms suggested by the senior lawyer.
The judge argued that variations of bail conditions are the discretionary power of the court.
“The defendant is hereby admitted to bail in the sum of N40 million with two sureties in like sum,” the judge ruled.
“The sureties must be owners of build-up properties in Lagos State and each property must be sufficient to cover the bail sum.”
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“Original title of the documents must be submitted to the chief registrar of the court.”
The other conditions — titles of two landed properties in Lagos, proof of gainful employment, three-year tax clearance, and proper national identification documents were not reviewed.
The judge also asked the defendant to submit his international passport, British passport and all travel documents to the court clerk.
Earlier, the court barred journalists and other members of the public from covering the testimony of the alleged rape survivor.
The survivor arrived at the court with her face covered with a shawl in the company of some family members.
Barely one hour later, the court resumed an open session and varied the bail sum.
The case was thereafter adjourned to 3 and 4 January for the continuation of trial.
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