Justice Ibironke Harrison of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Tafa Balewa Square has ordered the arrest of Rahmat Animashaun, a lawyer, for failing to appear before her to take her plea on the charges of perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Justice Harrison directed the police to arrest Animashaun and bring her to court on September 29, 2025, and on all subsequent dates until otherwise directed.
The Lagos State government has charged the defendant with four counts of perjury, making false accusations, providing false statements to public officials, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The state had alleged that on November 4, 2022, at the Zone 2 Police Command in Onikan, Lagos, she knowingly provided false testimony to initiate judicial proceedings against one Adewale Olanrewaju Olatunji.
The prosecution had also claimed that the defendant allegedly caused Olatunji to be wrongly charged with the defilement of a child and sexual assault by penetration in December 2022, serious offences under Sections 137 and 261 of the Lagos Criminal Law.
The state also alleged that the defendant was attempting to pervert the course of justice by failing to present her children for a medical examination at the National Hospital in Abuja, which was a crucial step in the investigation of the original allegation.
Police in their investigative report had revealed that Animashaun had filed a complaint in October 2022, alleging sexual abuse by Olatunji, citing medical records from the Mirabel Centre.
Olatunji was subsequently arrested and detained by the Zone 2 Police Command.
However, follow-up medical examinations conducted at the Police Cottage Hospital could not confirm the alleged abuse.
Medical experts then recommended specialised evaluations at the National Hospital in Abuja, but Ms. Animashaun reportedly did not bring the children for those assessments.
