* Finds him guilty on 4 out of 6 count-charge
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court in Ikeja, on Thursday, sentenced a popular Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju Omiyinka, aka Baba Ijesa, to 16 years imprisonment.
The Lagos State Government had brought Baba Ijesa to court on a six-count charge of child defilement, including indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by penetration.
According to the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the offences are contrary to Sections 135, 137, 261, 202, 262 and 263 of the Lagos State Criminal Law 2015, which stipulates life imprisonment for offenders.
But Baba Ijesa pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against him.
A Closed-Circuit Television video recording detailing his relationship with the victim said to be a minor was ,however, played in court.
In her judgement, Justice Taiwo held that the prosecuting Lagos State Government failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of all the charges preferred against him.
But Justice Taiwo found Baba Ijesa guilty on four out of the six-count charge against him.
The judge held that Baba Ijesha was guilty on count two, three, four and five.
On count two, Baba Ijesa was sentenced three years; count three, five years; count four, three years and five years for count five.
The judge, however, held that the jail terms are to run concurrently for five years.
Baba Ijesa was arraigned on June 24, 2021 while six prosecution witnesses testified against him during trial.
The six witnesses 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 Baba Ijesa on December 15, 2021 while the Nollywood actor called four witnesses and closed his defence on April 1.
The defence witnesses were Baba Ijesa 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 Baba Ijesa.
One of the lead lawyers to Baba Ijesa, 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 his client.
The Senior Advocate further argued that the footage of the CCTV was illegally obtained, saying that, “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.”
Awosika also argued that the recording had been tampered with especially since his client did not go to the complainant’s house uninvited.
He added that the alleged confessional statement of Baba Ijesa failed the provision of Section 9 (3 ) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) of Lagos State 2021.
The Senior Advocate said, “The Evidence Act allows legislation to guide the admissibility of documents 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.
But in his final written address dated May 31, the Director of DPP, Dr Babajide Martins, 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.
He 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.
“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 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 Baba Ijesa 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 police stations.
