Nigerian journalist Biodun Busari sat down for a candid and emotionally charged interview with former Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge April T. Ademiluyi, who recounted her turbulent journey through the U.S. judicial system. From confronting racial discrimination as a child to surviving a personal assault that pushed her into public service, Ademiluyi reveals a story marked by corruption, harassment, and an unyielding battle for justice that ultimately cost her her seat on the bench.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SPA-Ajibade.1.png")
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/idrinstitute.png")
Born in the United States to Nigerian parents from Lagos, Ademiluyi described a childhood marked by cultural isolation. “As a Nigerian, I had difficulties with the acceptance of other cultures,” she told Busari. “Black Americans didn’t quite accept my family as Africans. So, my mother went through a lot of discrimination from Black Americans, and I certainly went through discrimination myself as a child.” Interestingly, she noted that white Americans were often more embracing of her African identity than some Black communities, a dynamic that shaped her early years spent largely among fellow Africans.
Reflecting on present-day racial dynamics, Ademiluyi observed significant shifts driven by increased African immigration. “Things have absolutely changed now… Black Americans are far more accepting of us,” she said. Yet she expressed concern over new tensions: “I think one thing I notice now is a kind of hostility between Blacks and Whites. I can’t say things are better now. I think there’s just a different type of discrimination that’s eating up our headlines.”
Ademiluyi’s academic path was rooted in her aptitude for STEM. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, before obtaining a law degree from George Mason University. “I just started with Chemical Engineering because I was good with math and sciences,” she explained. Her siblings shared similar strengths, allowing the family to pursue their interests without pressure.
Her entry into public service, however, stemmed from profound personal trauma. In 2012, while attending a bar association conference, Ademiluyi was drugged and raped by fellow attorneys. When she reported the incident, she obtained a recorded conversation in which one perpetrator confessed, yet the evidence mysteriously disappeared and was replaced with a fabricated version. “It was a sad experience… Those who drugged and raped me were lawyers,” she said. This experience with what she described as a “two-tiered system of justice” ignited her resolve to run for judge in Prince George’s County, Maryland, despite the political hurdles of judicial elections.
After three grueling attempts, she was elected in 2020 and served as an Associate Judge from December 2020 until her abrupt removal in May 2024 by the Maryland Supreme Court, which accused her of “egregious misconduct.” During her tenure, she pledged to combat corruption, including allegations that judges accepted bribes from prison contractors to incarcerate children disproportionately—claims that energized her campaign and drew hostility from colleagues. “I wanted to ensure that the two-tiered system of justice that treats the rich and the poor differently doesn’t happen on my watch,” she said.
Her three years and four months on the bench were marked by isolation and escalating threats. She worked with the FBI to expose corruption but faced immediate backlash: emails scrutinized and misinterpreted, accusations that her experience as a survivor made her biased in rape cases, and open hostility from colleagues. “Everybody was against me. They don’t like anybody in their system who could potentially be talking to law enforcement agencies,” she revealed. Not one colleague defended her, leaving her to confront what she called a “corrupt world” alone.
The harassment soon spilled into her personal life. Nine months into her tenure, she received threatening letters from a convicted rapist serving a life sentence—someone with ties to her assailants. In another chilling incident, an unmarked commercial truck attempted to run her off the road, which she reported to police as an assassination attempt. “They were trying to kill me. They were afraid of being caught for taking bribes to incarcerate children,” she said.
Ademiluyi maintains that her removal was retaliatory. She is now pursuing a federal lawsuit against former colleagues, including a recent amendment adding a court reporter as a plaintiff. She has no desire to return to the bench. “The harassment was too much,” she said, explaining her decision to return to patent and intellectual property law.
She also weighed in on broader geopolitical issues. Responding to President Donald Trump’s recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over religious freedoms and threats of military intervention against northern insurgents, she expressed deep skepticism. “The government is spending a lot of time on immigration cases. The ability of the United States to combat corruption from within is crippled,” she argued. “It’s infuriating to see those in power trying to sanction a country like Nigeria” while neglecting domestic crises such as Christian persecution, rising murder rates, and systemic graft.
To African women facing adversity worldwide, Ademiluyi offered a message of resilience: “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t go far in life… You must find what you love and be passionate about doing it. Keep on going. Keep up the good fight… With perseverance and hard work, success always happens.”
A timely new publication, Casebook on Privacy & Data Protection in Nigeria, co-authored by Olumide Babalola and Uchenna Nnawuchi, 📘Casebook on Privacy & Data Protection in Nigeria is now available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/8TmFZrd
______________________________________________________________________
Alexander Payne Co. Law Reports
Contact & Orders 📞 0704 444 4777 | 0704 444 4999 | 0818 199 9888 🌐 www.alexandernigeria.com
______________________________________________________________________ “Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers: A Comprehensive Guide”, authored by Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq., ACiarb (UK), LL.M, Dip. in Artificial Intelligence, Director at the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Asaba, Nigeria.
How to Order:
📞 Call, Text, or WhatsApp: 08034917063 | 07055285878
📧 Email: benadigwe1@gmail.com
🌎 Website: www.benadigwe.com
Ebook Version: Access it directly online at https://selar.com/prv626
______________________________________________________________________
The books are available for purchase at:
Online: www.educodex.com | www.selar.com | www.amazon.com | www.mikeozekhome.com
Enquiries: +234 704 044 9375 | +234 814 813 4773 | +234 816 872 3532
Email: educodexl@gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________
Explore Nigeria’s Constitutional System — 17 Chapters, 924 Pages Of Insight By Prof. Hagler Sunny Okorie
