Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court on Monday adjourned the alleged child molestation case against a Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju Omiyinka, aka Baba Ijesha, until July 14, 2022, for judgment.
Baba Ijesha is facing six counts of child defilement that include allegations of indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by penetration.
Justice Taiwo adjourned the case for judgment after the prosecution and defence counsel had adopted their final written addresses.
During court sitting, the defence counsel, D.A Awosika (SAN), said the court should not ascribe any importance to exhibit A (CCTV footage) and dismiss it because it has been tampered with.
Awosika said, “The original Closed-Circuit Television footage has been tampered with by the maker, Princess, and according to experts was not tendered as exhibit in the original form.
“Exhibit A was illegally obtained as the defendant was invited because of an incident that happened seven years ago without any report made to the police.
“It is our submission that the age of the alleged victim is an issue and the court is bound to call the biological mother of the victim who is alive to determine the age of the victim either by birth certificate, the biological mother or scientifically to determine her age because it was not specified.”
In defence, the prosecuting counsel, Dr Babajide Martins, said the testimonies of the seven witnesses cannot be thrown away.
Martins said, “During cross-examination, the CCTV expert, Lawrence Ayeni, confirmed that CCTV footage cannot be manipulated or tampered with and also cannot say if the sexual assault did not happen.
“The primary legislation supersedes the secondary, according to the Administration of Criminal Justice law. So, we urge the court to accept the testimonies of the experts who gave their best to help resolve the case.
“Written addresses cannot be substituted with live testimonies of evidence given in the court and so we urge the court to sentence the defendant as charged.
“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.”
Justice Taiwo adjourned the matter until July 14, 2022, for judgment.
Copyright PUNCH.
