Expert Witness Faults Evidence in Dr Femi Olaleye’s Trial

An expert witness has faulted the medical report issued by a doctor at the Mirabel Centre, upon the examination conducted on an 18-year old alleged to have been defiled by a lagos-based medical doctor, Femi Olaleye. Uwom Eze told a Sexual Offences court in Ikeja that the information provided in the medical report was insufficient to establish the crime of sexual assault.

In January 2023, Dr Oyebimpe Akinbunmi of the Mirabel centre – a sexual assault referral facility – who was a witness for the lagos state government prosecuting the case before justice rahmon oshodi that upon her medical examination of dr femi olaleye’s alleged victim, she found injuries consistent with repeated, forceful and blunt penetration of the 18 year olds genitals.

But she said she does not know who committed the alleged sexual abuse on the Patient who is a niece of the defendant’s wife. He is accused of having repeatedly defiled the then minor whose names are withheld between 2020-2022.

On Wednesday another expert witness this time presented by the defence came to testify. Under questioning by the lead defence counsel, Olusegun Fabunmi (SAN), the head of the Forensic Medicine Unit of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Uwom Eze, said he was invited to review the medical report being relied upon by the prosecution, which has been admitted as an exhibit in the trial.

He told the court that upon the review, he found that the report didn’t follow the global best standards as stipulated by the World Health Organisation for examinations of this type.

According to him, the examiner didn’t attach the “significance of her findings” that the survivor’s vaginal wall appeared unduly visible.

He also says, the document didn’t detail its forensic evidence of the alleged penetrations, which the survivor said the defendant did on four separate episodes, and that her claims that the defendant allegedly told her to perform oral sex on him and gave her pills to use after defiling her weren’t seen to have been explored.

Dr Eze added that the report didn’t document any discoveries consistent with blunt forceful penetration such as” bruises or lacerations”. He also said there was no documentation on whether tests of DNA, for Hepatitis or STDs, as well as vaginal swabs were done on the patient, which made the report unreliable.

He also says the golden time to present such cases for the needed examination was within three days that the act was committed.

 

Despite objections by the State, The court admitted two documents tendered by the defence including the report of its witness.

During cross examination led by State counsel, Babajide Boye, the witness said his services to the defence were free of charge, on the basis of public interest, and that he had never met the defendant before.

Another witness, Oladehinde Bakare testified to being a close friend of Dr Olaleye and his wife. He said his two daughters who had close contact with the defendant over the years never complained about his conduct and that he didn’t believe Dr Olaleye could commit the alleged crimes. During cross examination, he says he never met the alleged survivor.

He admitted knowing the defendant’s first wife, Folake Ajanaku, but denied she had filed a similar sexual assault complaint against him in the UK.

Further hearing is fixed for April 26.