Alleged defilement: Baba Ijesha knows fate July 14

The Lagos State Special Offences Court, Ikeja, on Monday fixed July 14 for ruling in the trial of embattled Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju James aka Baba Ijesha, for alleged child defilement.

The Lagos State government arraigned Baba Ijesha on a six-count charge of indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by penetration.

He was accused of sexually molesting a 14-year-old daughter of a comedienne, Princess.

The actor, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo picked the date after the prosecution and defence counsel had adopted their final written addresses.

The defence counsel, Mr. Dada Awosika (SAN), in his final 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 Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) was illegally obtained.

He 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.

READ ALSO: Baba Ijesha drops ‘no case submission’ bid over alleged defilement

Awosika added that the defendant was accused of a crime committed seven years ago and not reported to the police.

He 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 counsel added: “The Evidence Act allows legislation to guide the admissibility of the 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 been agreed that nothing has been done to provide the real age.”

The Director of DPP, Dr. Babajide Martins, in his final address dated May 31, however, urged the court to convict Baba Ijesha as charged.

He argued that one of the witnesses, Mr. Lawrence Ayeni, told the court that the CCTV recording could not be manipulated.

Martins said: “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 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.”

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