•Shuns CCTV footage, DNA test vindicating alleged offender
•Convict alleges frame-up, betrayal by friend he banked on as witness
•Begs FG, Osun governor for intervention
A rare judgment by a US court has condemned a 38-year-old Nigerian to three life sentences with additional 76 years imprisonment while the convict, who had travelled from his base in Japan to America where he ventured into car business only to be accused of raping a teenage girl, insists he is innocent and accused the presiding judge of bias for allegedly ignoring the evidence that would have proved his innocence. TOBA ADEDEJI examines the issues around the court verdict as well as the allegation of racism against the American justice system.
I was sentenced to three life imprisonment and 76 years jail term. The meaning is that if I come back to life after dying in this jail, I will again be kept in jail till I must have died three times. I will then serve another 76 years before I would be set from here in Dooly State Prison, Georgia, United States.”
Those were the words of Adedoja Olaniyi Bah, a native of Ilesa, Osun State, who spoke with our correspondent through his sister, Toyin Fanu, from his base in Georgia, United States of America where he is currently serving three life sentences and an additional 76 years in prison for allegedly raping a teenage girl.
But he insists that he is as clean as a hound’s tooth as the rape allegation was merely a frame-up for reasons that remained yet a mystery.
Olaniyi said: “The evidence brought by the police was contradictory. The DNA test results of the perpetrator of the crime did not match mine according to the police expert.
“Yet I was jailed as the court looked away from those inconsistent facts put forward against me because of racism.
“I can still win this case, but the American justice system is worse than Nigeria’s.
“I can make Nigeria proud if I can hire an independent lawyer to represent me at the Appeal Court.”
According to The Nation findings, Olaniyi’s journey out of the shores of Nigeria began in 2007 when he left for Tokyo, Japan in search of greener pastures. Upon his arrival in the Asian country, he started running a dancing club and recorded landmark success.
This was when he met his Japanese wife and their union was blessed with two kids. In Tokyo, he had also met a Nigerian named Atunnise Olutoye and they became friends until the latter departed Japan for the United States of America in 2009 and their interaction became limited to occasional telephone conversation.
Vacation results in Olaniyi’s imprisonment
On April 20, 2017, Olaniyi embarked on a vacation to New York, United States of America. Upon his arrival in God’s Own Country, he contacted Olutoye who had relocated from Japan to the US some years earlier. Olutoye then invited him to Georgia for reunification after they had stayed apart for eight years.
Olaniyi gladly honoured the invitation and hopped on the plane to Georgia with Olutoye’s wife picking him up at the airport and driving him to their house where a room was given him to stay in. Olutoye, a car merchant, then asked Olaniyi to venture into the business of buying and selling second-hand cars. Subsequently, Olaniyi purchased five cars with guidance from his friend.
However, in June the same year, Olutoye told Olaniyi that his mother would be coming to America on a visit and would be staying in the room occupied by Olaniyi. The development forced Olaniyi to rent an apartment at Sweetwater Creek, Austell, because he had not finished his car transaction.
On June 3, 2017, Olaniyi had an accident with one of the cars and sustained minor injuries. He informed Olutoye about it and the latter mooted an idea that they could make money with the accident from what insurance would pay for medicals and other bills. He then urged Olaniyi to claim that he (Olutoye) was also involved in the accident, and both of them started receiving treatment at AICA Ortho and Spine, a facility situated on Thornton Road.
It was learnt that Olutoye only used the opportunity of the accident to access medical attention for some issues he had had in his neck and back but did not have enough money to address.
How jealousy grew against Olaniyi
During the period, Olaniyi bought another car through through a registered and accredited dealer; an auction route Olutoye did not know about. The development was said to have infuriated Olutoye who became jealous and allegedly complained that “because my friend has money he is now buying from where I don’t know.”
It was gathered that they were both receiving treatments for four week after which Olaniyi was tired as a result of failure of the Insurance company to pay them any money over the accident. He then informed his friends that he would be going back to Tokyo as his return ticket date was near.
But Olutoye was infuriated by his decision to return to Tokyo because it would abruptly end the medical attention they were receiving together. He implored his vacation friend to tarry for a while so as to end the medical check-ups. Olaniyi rescheduled his return flight to July 30, 2017.
Arrested for alleged rape
However, before his departure date of July 30, 2017, an ill-fatebefell Olaniyi. As he was returning home from shopping, the police on routine patrol stopped him in his car at the Kruger Parking lot and searched the car without finding anything suspicious.
Olaniyi said: “They asked me to follow them to the Douglas County Sheriff Department for further questioning about the vehicle. I humbly complied and drove myself to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department, even though there was no warrant or any charges preferred against me, except the questions about my vehicle acquisitions. On my way to the department, I informed Olutoye about what was going on.
“Upon arrival at the Sheriff’s station, I was asked how I bought the cars and made payments. I provided the dealership contact address and provided evidence of payment received from my family bank account in Tokyo and also evidence of payment from my Bank of America account to the dealership bank account.
“After no fault was found with the car purchase process, the police shifted their line of questioning and told me that a crime had occurred at the complex where I lived, saying that the closest surveillance footage around the area showed me. The officer asked me to share any information or individuals I might have seen, as that could assist in their investigation.
“I explained that I had moved to the complex less than a month ago and was not familiar with the residents or their faces. Despite my attempts to clarify this, the officer continued to press me for information. Eventually, I requested to leave but the officer threatened to charge me with rape and other sexual offences if I did not help them in the investigation.”
He noted that on the night of his arrest, samples were taken from him for a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test. It was learnt that his hair, pubic hair, saliva and fingernails were scraped for the test to ensure it match the sample found on the girl they raped.
Ordeal with Douglas police
Olaniyi continued: “I was arrested and detained without any probable cause that I committed a crime. It took a week before my friend, Olutoye, appeared at the station, and that was the first and the last time he ever visited.
“After months in detention, I hired an attorney to represent me. In one of my attorney client visitations, as I was emphasising my good character, telling the attorney that this was my first time in Atlanta Georgia and I just moved into the complex, I requested that he reached out to my friend Olutoye.
“However, upon checking his records, the attorney shook his head in disappointment. Then he told me that ‘unfortunately, the Olutoye you considered your friend, has agreed to testify for the State against you, so there is no way I can contact him.’
“He then asked me, ‘Do you have anyone else who can vouch for your character?’ I replied with a no, as Olutoye was the only person I knew in Atlanta, Georgia.
“The truth is Olutoye had thousands of my money and my SUVs are in his possession, which he could have sold to secure legal services for me but he chose not to show up. I was unaware that Olutoye had become a witness for the state, and I couldn’t understand why he did so at the time.”
According to T Mobile report of Olaniyi obtained by The Nation, the Nigerian father of two was in front of AICA Ortho and Spine facility located on Thornton Road as he was on a call for five minutes 43 seconds between 6:55 pm and 7:01 pm on the day he was alleged to have raped the white teenage girl.
A 911 record obtained by Adam Kiker, a policeman who was around the area when the rape incident occurred at the park of Sweetwater creek, Austell, showed that the emergency call by Englett around 7:14 pm notified the police that “the suspect is a black male wearing a red shirt and khaki shorts.”
Exhibit F claimed that the vehicle driven by Olaniyi was allegedly used to hide the clothes which have not been found till now.
In a supporting document by Kiker, a report of surveillance cameras at the scene of the crime, he noted in the document that “the maintenance Manager, Joseph Bates, allowed me to go into the leasing office and watch surveillance video footage.
“The video showed a black male wearing a red shirt with gray sleeves and tan khaki shorts walk from the 100 building to the south side of the leasing office.”
Also, the 14-year-old victim of the rape (name withheld), in a transcripted document, corroborated the 911 report and surveillance cameras report of the cloth worn by the perpetrator of the offence.
She noted that the suspect was not armed while raping her as he only used his “strong arms” to fondle her private part before she was penetrated.
The sister of the victim, Angiethomas, corroborated the testimony of her sister that the suspect was a black male wearing a red shirt and khaki shorts.
Report of another witness named Joshua Miller noted that he saw the video surveillance and the suspect was a dark male who wore a red shirt and khaki shorts.
However, a video footage of Olaniyi presented in court showed that he wore a hoody of purple colour coated with white and red strips. The hoody was long-sleeved. He also wore a multi-coloured trousers like army camouflage.
Olaniyi also said the exact video on which his prosecution was based was never produced in court till he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Similarly, the result of the DNA test conducted by the police to prosecution expert, MS Hinkle on both Olaniyi and the victim do not match each other. She said there was no meaningful match between the virginal swap of the victim and that of Olaniyi. Hinkle noted that it is 50 per cent probable and she also said “the DNA result is inconclusive.”
The DNA expert of Olaniyi named Dr Acton disagreed with the police expert noting that there should not be anything called ‘inconclusive’ with the explanation she gave about the result.
Countering the police expert before the court, he said: “I have the defendant’s profile here and I have an evidence profile here. You can go ahead and conduct statistics on that profile.
“But if they’re not the same, that means you don’t have the evidence to do anything with it.
“In essence, if you have these alleles missing that the defendant possesses, that’s the basis for exclusion. Meaningful match statistics were not obtained.
“Well, your first step in the process is not statistics. Your first step is to have profiles from two different samples that are consistent. Then you can apply statistics.”
Police witness, Jay Hayes noted that Olaniyi committed the offence between 6:51 pm and 7:03 pm, a claim countered by Olaniyi’s call history and GPS that he was at the hospital at that particular time.
During the judgment, the judge disqualified the DNA expert employed by Olaniyi on the basis that he did not have a recommended certificate as stated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
This forced the expert and Olaniyi to go for Daubert Hearing which revealed that the DNA samples on the victim and Olaniyi do not match each other.
However, Olutayo testified against Olaniyi that he was not sure of his character because they had parted ways in Tokyo for more than seven years. Subsequently, the court sentenced Olaniyi to three life imprisonments and another 76 years jail term.
Olaniyi told the reporter that the case is presently at the Appeal Court but the government lawyer that is currently representing him is not tendering documents or puncturing the loopholes in the prosecution by the police.
He lamented that he had spent more than $150,000 to hire lawyers and experts in the case; a development that has left him bankrupt, hence the government that wrongfully jailed him is now the one providing a lawyer to defend him.
Olaniyi pleaded with the Nigerian government and Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State in his case for fair hearing in the case.
His words: “I want to appeal to the Federal Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and other well-meaning Nigerians to come to my aid for a fair hearing.
“This is a pure case of racism aided by my jealous friend. The American government system of prosecution and court judgment was faulty.
“My situation is a result of jealousy and racism. But it won’t last for long. I will make Nigeria proud. Shame on America’s justice system. It is worse than what we have in Nigeria.”
He added that all the cars he bought were still in his friend’s possession with the thousands of dollars in his hand.
Distraught mother pleads with Nigerian government
Olaniyi’s mother, Madam Victoria Adedoja, said her son’s case was marred by lack of proper legal representation.
The distraught mother pleaded with Nigerians to help get her son out of prison by ensuring that he is given fair hearing in the case.
While seeking help for her son’s appeal, she stated that she was not aware of her son’s predicament until she received a phone call from Olutoye, her son’s friend that invited him to the US, as well as his mother and one of Toye’s prophets, informing her about the arrest of her son and a demand for the sum of $20,000 to get her son out of the police station, which she couldn’t raise.
She said: “I was at the MFM Camp in Lagos when I got a phone call from a man who introduced himself as Olutoye Atunnise, breaking the news of my son being in detention in Atlanta.
“He spoke in a rude manner, asking me to look for money to bail him out from the police station because he committed a grievous offence. He said I should send the money to his account.
“I told him I did not have that kind of money because I am a retired teacher and a widow. But he said E lo ta nkan toba ni (go and sell his property).
“In panic, I demanded his account number in case we could raise any amount. He dropped a GTB account number 0174564903, and said if you get the money, send it to my account.”
“Racism and my son’s friend’s envy and greed contributed to his plight,” she added.
Olutoye responds to allegations
When Olutoye who is now an American citizen was contacted, he debunked the allegation that he sold Olaniyi’s car, saying: “Olaniyi was in prison when he sold all the cars he had with me, I dare him to provide the proof that I sold his car.
“It is unfortunate that he is crying that he is innocent. He should embrace his fate and start seeking forgiveness from God.
“He cannot lie that he did not rape the girl. In Fact, he chased the girl from the liaison office to a garden where he had carnal knowledge of the girl from the back.”
He continued: “There was a time Olaniyi was threatening me. What kind of audacity is that; to threaten me that he met in America? I have both Japan and America passports.
“I was shown the CCTV footage of the rape in court. He raped the girl. Olaniyi also did similar things in Tokyo. Even during his prosecution, the American government contacted Tokyo to aid the prosecution.
“Olaniyi is bisexual. He even sold his kidney for the love of money. I dare him to take a picture of his body naked. I don’t care anymore about him.
“Before this incident, I admonished him that my pastor saw a vision about him getting into trouble and that he should fast, but he never listened.
“I tried my best for him. I never testified against him in court. I was only whether I knew him and I told the court that I do know him.”
“The court was angry with him because he did not accept his fault. That is why he was sentenced to three life imprisonments and another 76 years.”
