The Court of Appeal in Lagos has confirmed the 5-year prison sentence for Nigerian actor Baba Ijesha. This decision follows a previous ruling by Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo (retd.) of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court, which, on July 12, 2022, sentenced Baba Ijesha to five years in prison for the sexual assault of a minor.
Baba Ijesha, dissatisfied with the judgment, appealed through his lawyer, Kayode Olabiran. His appeal aimed to overturn the conviction and secure his release.
On Thursday, June 27, 2024, Justice Folashade Ojo delivered the judgment on the appeal. The court set aside the charges related to the indecent treatment of a child and sexual assault that allegedly occurred between 2013 and 2014. Justice Ojo described the testimony of the first witness (PW1), Damilola Adekoya, as hearsay and therefore not credible enough to support those charges.
However, Justice Ojo found the eyewitness account of the April 19, 2021, incident provided by Adekoya to be credible. The court noted that Baba Ijesha had confessed to the crime in his statements to the police. Based on this evidence, the appellate court upheld Baba Ijesha’s conviction for the April 2021 incident.
The court confirmed that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt regarding the indecent treatment of a child and sexual assault during the 2021 incident. Consequently, the court ordered:
“I affirm the conviction and sentence of the appellant to 5 years imprisonment for the offence of indecent treatment of a child contrary to section 135 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015 (count 4 of the charge).
“I also affirm the appellant’s conviction to 3 years imprisonment for sexual assault contrary to section 263 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011 (count 5 of the information).
“The sentences for counts 4 and 5 are to run concurrently.”
This means Baba Ijesha will serve a total of five years in prison as the sentences will run at the same time.
