Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju James, popularly known as Baba Ijesha, who was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for child defilement, has spent one year of his prison term at the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, Kirikiri, Lagos State.
It would be recalled that Baba Ijesha faced public opprobrium when an actress, Princess disclosed that he had sexually molested her daughter right in her apartment.
The case later went to trial and he was convicted of the crime on July 14, 2022, and sentenced to 16 years imprisonment on four of the six-count charge—indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration, and sexual assault by penetration— preferred against him.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, of the Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja, had said in her judgement, “I hereby find the defendant guilty of counts two to five, and he is discharged of counts one and six. The defendant is hereby sentenced to five years imprisonment for count two, three years for count three, five years for count four, and three years for count five.”
In an interview with the Punch, during the week, a friend of the convict, Yomi Fabiyi said, “First, it is difficult for me to deny knowing him. My non-governmental organisation decided to hear his side, do our own little investigation, and what we found out required us to give him a voice, as it looked like he was ‘ambushed into that misfortune’.
“There were too many questions begging for answers, as could be seen at the end of the trial, hence the appeal.”
He said he had been in constant communication with the beleaguered actor since he was committed to prison.
Fabiyi said, “My first visit started from the second day he was sentenced to prison. I also ensure that I regularly communicate with him in prison.”
He added, “I am not in his shoes, but I am trying my best to keep his spirits high and get him not to think of suicide or any vendetta. When his father died (on May 13, 2023), it was a difficult moment.
“However, he is still bothered that the age of the girl was not proven with a birth certificate. The absence of some factors before a guilty verdict was passed gives him serious mental agony. He feels he has been unjustly punished.”
