Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court has sentenced Nollywood actor and comedian, Olanrewaju James, popularly known as Baba Ijesha to 16 years imprisonment over sexual assault.
According to Vanguard, Justice Taiwo gave the judgment on Thursday adding that the jail term will run concurrently.
Baba Ijesha was convicted for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old daughter of his colleague, actress and comedienne, Damilola Adekoya with a stage name Princess.
Recall that operatives of the Nigeria Police had arrested Baba Ijesha April 2021 for sleeping with the victim since she was seven years old.
He was reported to the police on April 19, 2021 by Princess at Sabo Police Station and transferred to the Gender Unit of the State CID, Panti, Yaba Lagos for proper investigation
The suspect confessed to the crime and was also captured by a CCTV camera in the house of the complainant.
Few days later, Baba Ijesha was arraigned before Justice Taiwo facing a six-count charge of child defilement bordering on allegations of indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by penetration.
In further court proceedings, it was ruled that the CCTV recordings on Baba Ijesha may have been tampered with.
In February 2022, a defence witness and expert in CCTV installation and maintenance, Adeleke Lawrence suggested this before an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court last year.
Lawrence alluded to this while being led in evidence by Babatunde Ogala (SAN) in the trial of the Nollywood comedian.
Four video recordings of Baba Ijesha were played during resumed proceedings following the request of Ogala.
The last court appearance finalised the case in June 2022 and fixed the final judgment for July 14, 2022.
The judge ruled that there was no evidence before the court, which proved that the embattled Nollywood actor was tortured into giving the statement to the police.
An Ikeja Special Offences Court has convicted embattled actor, Olanrewaju James, alias Baba Ijesha, of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old minor.
According to NAN, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, in a two-hour judgment on Thursday, convicted him of indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault and attempted sexual assault.
Taiwo, however, discharged and acquitted him of count one and count six, which were: sexual assault by penetration and attempted sexual assault by penetration.
Lagos State Government had sued the Nollywood actor over allegations of sexual assault and indecent treatment of a child.
Baba Ijesha was arraigned before the court on a six-count charge of indecent treatment of a child, defilement of a child, sexual assault by penetration, attempted sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault.
However, he had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo had adjourned the case for judgment on Thursday after the prosecution and defence counsel adopted their final written addresses.
During the court sittings, the defence counsel, Mr. Dada Awosika (SAN), had urged the court not to ascribe any importance to exhibit A, which is a CCTV footage tendered by the persecution.
He asked the court to dismiss and reject the evidence on the grounds that it had been tampered with.
The counsel argued that: “The original CCTV footage has been tampered with by the maker, Princess, and according to experts, was not tendered as exhibit in the original form.”
He stated: “Exhibit A was illegally obtained as the defendant was invited because of an incident that happened seven years ago without any report made to the police.
“It is our submission that the age of the alleged victim is an issue and the court is bound to call the biological mother of the victim who is alive to determine the age of the victim either by birth certificate, through the biological mother or scientifically to determine her age because it was not specified.”
But the Lagos State Director of Prosecution, Dr. Babajide Martins, on his part, told the court that the testimonies of the seven prosecution witnesses cannot be thrown away.
Martins said: “During cross-examination of the CCTV expert, Lawrence Ayeni, he confirmed that CCTV footage cannot be manipulated or tampered with.
He urged the court to accept the testimonies of the experts who gave their best to help resolve the case.
“Written addresses cannot be substituted to live testimonies of experts given in the court, and so we urge the court to sentence the defendant as charged.
“The defendant admitted to having been with the girl in both the incident that happened seven years ago and the one that happened in 2021. He also admitted to having sucked her fingers during the cross-examination,” he added.
