Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and
S-xual Offences Court on Thursday sentenced a Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju
Omiyinka, aka Baba Ijesha, to 16 years imprisonment.
Baba Ijesha is facing six counts of child defilement that
include indecent treatment of a child, s-xual assault, attempted s-xual assault
by penetration and s-xual assault by penetration.
The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions, which
proffered the charges against the actor, argued that the offences contravene
Section 135, 137, 261, 202, 262 and 263 of the Lagos State Criminal Law 2015,
which stipulates life imprisonment for offenders.
Baba Ijesha pleaded not guilty to all the counts. However, a
Closed-Circuit Television video recording detailing his relationship with the
victim said to be a minor was played in court.
Delivering the judgement, Justice Taiwo said that the
prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is
guilty of all the charges against him.
However, she found the defendant guilty of two of the six
counts against him.
The defendant was arraigned on June 24, 2021. During the
trial, six prosecution witnesses testified against him.
They were actress and comedienne, Princess, the 14-year-old
minor, a child expert, Mrs Olabisi Ajayi-Kayode, and medical doctor, Dr Aniekan
Makanjuola.
Others were the Investigating Police Officer, ASP Wahab
Kareem, and a policewoman, Inspector Abigail Omane.
The DPP closed its case against the defendant on December
15, 2021, while Baba Ijesha called four witnesses and closed its defence on
April 1.
The defence witnesses were Baba Ijesha (defendant) and Mr
Lawrence Ayeni, an expert in video production and CCTV installation and
maintenance.
Mr Olukayode Olugbemi, a clinical psychologist and Mr
Olukayode Ogunbanjo, the defendant’s friend and colleague also testified for
the defence.
Defence counsel, Mr Dada Awosika (SAN), in adopting his
final written address dated May 12 and filed on May 16, urged the court to
dismiss the suit and discharge the defendant.
Awosika argued that the footage of the CCTV was illegally
obtained.
He had said, “In the interest of justice, exhibit A which
was the CCTV footage that recalled the event was illegally obtained.
“The exhibit was not tendered by the maker. It was tendered
by Princess, the complainant.”
He argued that the recording had been tampered with
especially since the defendant did not go to the complainant’s house uninvited.
He further submitted that the alleged confessional statement
of the defendant failed the provision of Section 9 (3 ) of the Administration
of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) of Lagos State 2021.
“The Evidence Act allows legislation to guide the
admissibility of document before the court. ACJL has stated that if a
confessional statement is to be used, it must meet some certain degree by ACJL
which is not applied in this case.
“We urge the court to discredit the confessional statement.
The defendant moved in a jiffy to participate in a short skit that put him in
trouble. My Lord, my client was trapped.
“Concerning the age of the girl in question, Exhibits D and
E are not saying the same thing.
“It is our submission My Lord, that the court is bound to
call the biological mother inside the box to tell us her real age or her birth
certificate or scientific evidence is tendered to ascertain the age but none
was done.
“The prosecution agreed that the age of the minor must be
established. However, it has also agreed that nothing has been done to provide
the real age,” Awosika said.
The Director of DPP, Dr Babajide Martins, in his final
written address dated May 31, however, urged the court to convict Baba Ijesha
as charged.
He argued that one of the defence witnesses, Mr Lawrence
Ayeni, told the court that the CCTV recording could not be manipulated.
“On the issue of the CCTV recording My Lord, the first
defence witness (Ayeni) told this honourable court during cross-examination
that it cannot be manipulated and that the content of CCTV cannot be changed.
“Most importantly, he said he cannot say if the sexual
assault did not happen. These are the testimonies from the defence witness My
Lord.
“The defendant admitted to have been with the girl in both
the incident that happened seven years ago and the one that happened in 2021.
“He also admitted to have sucked her fingers during the
cross-examination.
“On the issue of ACJL, the primary legislation supersedes
the secondary legislation.
“On the issue of a medical certificate, the defendant said
he did not have any issue with the medical doctor and had never met him when I
cross-examined him.
“As a result, he has no reason to mislead the court,”
Martins said.
Martins further told the court that the definition of a
child was anybody below the age of 18 years and that the prosecution had proven
that the girl was below the age.
The DPP said the defendant also admitted during the trial
that he never mentioned that he was acting a script when he was detained by the
police at Sabo and Panti.
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