Nigerian doctor previously acquitted of r*pe, remanded in the UK for recording s#xu@l acts

Olufemi Olaleye, a former medical director at the OptimalCancer Care Foundation in Lagos, has been detained in the United Kingdom,facing three charges of voyeurism. Voyeurism is the act of deriving pleasure from secretlyobserving individuals who are nude or engaged in s#xu@l activity. It is a criminal offence in the UK, primarily under theS#xu@l Offences Act 2003, and the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019, and penaltiescan include imprisonment for a term of up to two years for non-consensualvoyeurism. The suspect was brought before the Medway Magistrates’ Courton 5 December, which ordered his remand till 2 January 2026, having pleaded notguilty, according to the Punch newspaper. Mr Olaleye, who is also a British citizen, was arrested atGatwick Airport, London, on 27 November upon arriving in the UK from Nigeria.He was immediately taken into custody by the North Kent Police Station forquestioning. BackstoryRecall that Mr Olaleye, the medical director of OptimalCancer Care, was arraigned in 2022 by the Lagos State government at the S#xu@lOffences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja, Lagos. He was accused of defilement and s#xu@l assault bypenetration of his wife’s 16-year-old niece. After he was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2023,his lawyer, Kemi Pihinero, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), filed an appealin November 2023, arguing that there was no direct evidence to confirm thealleged victim’s age. The appellant claimed that the prosecution failed to providedocumentation proving she was 16 years old at the time of the offence. In its judgement delivered on 29 November, a three-memberpanel of the Court of Appeal discharged and acquitted him. Jimi Bada, who read the lead judgment, which was consentedto by the two other justices, held that the trial court erred in convicting MrOlaleye based on “tainted” and ‘unreliable’ evidence of his estranged wife,Oluremi, and the alleged survivor (name withheld). The appellate court stated that there were materialcontradictions in the evidence gathered by the prosecution, which the lowercourt should not have relied on. LawsuitThe alleged s#xu@l incidents involving several womenhappened when Mr Olaleye worked in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Darent ValleyHospital under the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust from January 2005 toSeptember 2008. Kent Police, who confirmed his arrest and detention viaemail to the Punch newspaper, said three charges of voyeurism were filedagainst the suspect. “Kent Police was made aware of a man suspected of offencesreturning to the UK from Nigeria via Gatwick airport on Thursday, 27 November2025,” the Police Press Officer, Charles Harman, wrote in the email. “Officers attended the terminal, and a man was arrested.Francis Olaleye, 57, from Plumstead Common Road, Plumstead, London, was latercharged with three counts of voyeurism. He denied all charges at MedwayMagistrates’ Court on Saturday, 29 November, and has been remanded in custodyuntil his next hearing on Friday, 5 December.” The charges state, “Between 01/05/2004 and 31/07/2007 atDartford in the county of Kent, recorded another person doing a private actwith the intention that you would, for the purpose of obtaining s#xu@lgratification, look at an image of that other person doing the act, knowingthat the other person did not consent to your recording the act with thatintention.” We could not independently verify at what point OlufemiOlaleye or Femi Olaleye became Francis Olaleye. However, findings showed thatthe suspect may have changed his name a few times. For instance, he registered as “Frank Olaleye” when hebecame a director at Wish for Africa, a charity organisation he established inOctober 2007 and dissolved in 2010. However, his name remained the same on hisInstagram handle. His last update was on 27 November about his five-day tour toDubai. Meanwhile, activists, in a press release issued on Saturdayand jointly signed by the Executive Director of the Centre Against Injusticeand Domestic Violence (CAIDOV), Gbenga Soloki, and the Executive Director ofTonia Bruised But Not Broken Foundation, Anthonia Ojenagbon, commended JusticeRahmon Oshodi for his initial judgment, despite it being overturned by theCourt of Appeal. They said the judge sent Mr Olaleye to jail based onevidence presented by the survivor and the painstaking prosecution by theoffice of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). “Truly, with the likes of Justice Oshodi on the bench, thejudiciary is the last hope of the common man, and a man of such pedigreedeserves commendation,” the statement reads.

Read More