The first defence witness in the trial of Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju
James alias Baba Ijesha, charged with defilement, on Thursday, claimed that
portions of the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage on the allegation,
were edited.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the witness,
Mr Lawrence Ayeni, also testified before an Ikeja Special Offences Court that
the actor and the minor he allegedly defiled were both acting out a script in
the footage.
Ayeni, a graduate of Mechanical Engineering, said that he
was experienced in video production and CCTV installation and maintenance.
Led in evidence by co-lead defence counsel, Mr Babatunde
Ogala (SAN), the witness told the court that one of the CCTV recordings of the
alleged encounter had been tampered with at the point of editing.
During his testimony, four videos were played on a projector
in the courtroom.
One of the videos showed the defendant and the 14-year-old
in the home of her foster mother, comedienne Damilola Adekoya alias Princess.
The CCTV footage was recorded in April 2021, shortly before
the defendant’s arrest.
In the footage, the defendant and the minor were sitting on
a couch for a while, then they walked out of view.
When they returned, the defendant offered her a cup to drink
from, kissed her hand and drew her close to him. They were speaking but their
voices could not be heard.
The witness said: “The CCTV has no audio because it was a
fibre camera that was used.
“The voices you heard are of the persons who recorded the
encounter, directing the script, and later edited the recording.
“Baba Ijesha is acting what the director asked him to. The
girl often looks at the camera so she was acting out what she was told to.
“At the point of copying the content into a computer, errors
could have been inputted or it got tampered with.”
The other videos showed the defendant pleading for
forgiveness from Princess when she accosted him.
Another footage showed his arrest.
The final footage showed his statement being taken while he
was in police custody.
Under cross-examination by the Lagos State Director of
Public Prosecutions, Dr. Babajide Martins, the witness admitted that CCTV
footage could not be manipulated at the time of recording.
Ayeni submitted that speculations of tampering with the
recording or using various devices to record could not change the contents or
what was said in the footage.
The defendant is facing a six-count charge bordering on
indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by
penetration and sexual assault by penetration.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo adjourned proceedings until March 4 for continuation of defence.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com