Aderemi, wife of Femi Olaleye, managing director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, has testified before the special offences and domestic violence court in Lagos state.
At the court sitting on Monday, Aderemi appeared as the first witness.
She told the court that she married Olaleye in March 2011 and that they have two children, who are aged 10 and seven, respectively.
On November 30, Olaleye was arraigned by the Lagos state government on a two-count charge of defilement of a child and sexual assault by penetration.
Olaleye was accused of sexually violating a minor, said to be his wife’s niece, for over 20 months.
However, the cancer care advocate pleaded not guilty to the charge against him and the court remanded him in Ikoyi prison pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions.
Speaking during the hearing, Aderemi said the victim was 15 years old when she moved to their house on December 19, 2019, following the death of a relative.
She said the victim stopped residing in the house in July 2022, adding that she was not aware of the alleged sexual assault until the victim confessed to another relative on November 28, 2021.
“What happened the day before November 28, 2021 and why did the victim confess to your aunt?” Babatunde Martins, the prosecution lawyer, asked Aderemi.
Responding, she said a nanny reported that the victim had started exhibiting “strange behaviour”.
“When I called her (victim) upstairs to explain herself after the nanny’s complaint, she gave me a long hiss and I disciplined her,” she said.
“This incident happened when my husband was not around. He travelled to Abeokuta.”
She added that when her husband returned, the children told him about the incident.
He (Olaleye) did not have any discussion with me. He went straight to her room and started pacifying her (victim),” Aderemi added.
“When I challenged him, Femi Olaleye yelled at me and said I should do my worst. The worst I could say was that he was sleeping with her and he said he is sleeping with her. I told him not to say that. Immediately, he said he was taking her out of the home.
“After he left the victim in my aunt’s house, my aunt, who is a retired school principal and psychologist, asked the victim what happened and she confessed.
“She told my aunt that since March 2020, Femi had been abusing her, that he introduced her to pornography. From there, he graduated to oral sex.
“He does this in places where there are no CCTV cameras, and around 2am almost everybody.”
Aderemi alleged that her husband threatened to kill the victim if she told anyone about the incident.