UPDATED: Baba Ijesha jailed 16 years - AfrobadooTV
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UPDATED: Baba Ijesha jailed 16 years

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Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court on Thursday sentenced a Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju Omiyinka, aka Baba Ijesha, to 16 years imprisonment.

Baba Ijesha is facing six counts of child defilement that include indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by penetration.

The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions, which proffered the charges against the actor, argued that the offences contravene Section 135, 137, 261, 202, 262 and 263 of the Lagos State Criminal Law 2015, which stipulates life imprisonment for offenders.

Baba Ijesha pleaded not guilty to all the counts. However, a Closed-Circuit Television video recording detailing his relationship with the victim said to be a minor was played in court.

 

Delivering the judgement, Justice Taiwo said that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of all the charges against him.

However, she found the defendant guilty of four of the six counts against him.

Baba Ijesha was found guilty of count two, three, four and five.

For count two, he was jailed for three years; count three, five years; count four, three years and sentenced five years for count five.

The justice said the jail terms are to run concurrently for five years.

The defendant was arraigned on June 24, 2021. During the trial, six prosecution witnesses testified against him.

They 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 the defendant on December 15, 2021, while Baba Ijesha called four witnesses and closed its defence on April 1.

The defence witnesses were Baba Ijesha (defendant) 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 the defence.

Defence counsel, 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 the defendant.

Awosika argued that the footage of the CCTV was illegally obtained.

He had 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.”

Baba Ijesha gets more social media followers, charges fees for birthday greetings
He argued that the recording had been tampered with especially since the defendant did not go to the complainant’s house uninvited.

He further 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 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,” Awosika said.

The Director of DPP, Dr Babajide Martins, in his final written address dated May 31, however, 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.

“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 have been with the girl in both the incident that happened seven years ago and the one that happened in 2021.

“He also admitted to have 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 said.

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 the defendant 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.

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Police Inspector’s Son Reportedly Stabs Boy To Death In Delta

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The Son of a Serving Police Inspector, Ogbantu, has reportedly stabbed a boy, Onyebuchi Ernest Emeka, to death in Warri, Delta State.

It was gathered that the suspect, Destiny Ogbantu, fled the scene of the incident. The incident occurred at the Police Barracks near “A” Division and the Warri Area Command on Friday, the 22nd of September, at about 6 pm. Details as to why the suspect stabbed the victim to death are still sketchy at the time of this report.

It was gathered that the deceased came to the police barracks when the suspect saw him.   He was confronted by the suspect, and a serious argument ensued, leading to a fight between both of them.   A source claimed the suspect ran upstairs in the “D” block apartment, picked up a knife and a dagger, chased the deceased, who ran for his dear life until he fell, and then stabbed him countless times.

The deceased was rushed to Lily Hospital, where he died as a result of the bodily injuries he sustained from the stabs.   At the time of this report, the said inspector had been arrested by the police on the order of the area commander.

When contacted for comments, the Delta State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, confirmed the report in a telephone chat.

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Ilesha Killings: Investigate Osun Governor

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Ilesha Killings

 

Investigate Osun Governor Over Ilesha Killings, Osun APC Tells Police IG

Following the police arrest of a notorious political thug, Dauda Olalekan Ajagungbade popularly known as ‘Emir’ in Osogbo and its environs four days ago, the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has tasked the Inspector-General of Police to extend the tentacle of the investigation of the ilesha killings perpetrated by the suspect to the state Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

The APC noted that its call became necessary because ‘Emir’ is an ally of the governor.

It would be recalled that the police in Osun State arrested the notorious crime suspect, Ajagungbade, who was a member of Governor Adeleke Transition Committee and currently Head of the state Task Force on Motorparks across the state for allegedly physically assaulting a man with cutlasses, cudgels, knives and charms.

The PDP thug who has been on the wanted list of the police since July 2, 2022 for alleged criminal offences including murder such as ilesha killings, cultism, kidnapping and being in possession of firearms, was subsequently transferred to the Police Headquarters in Abuja for intensive investigation.

It would be recalled that Olalekan was alleged to have led the killings of five people including one Oyewale Sheriff shortly after the inauguration of Governor Adeleke and burned one person (Olalekan Waheed) to death in a cruel manner in Osogbo last year.

Emir was also alleged to have led the PDP political thugs to snatch ballot boxes in Boripe, Osogbo and Olorunda Local Government Council Areas of the state during the last presidential, governorship, national and state assembly elections.

The notorious PDP thug reported to have caused bodily harm to a lecturer, the Director of Examinations, at the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, was also alleged to have been involved in the killings of more than five people at the recent grand finale of this year’s Osun Osogbo festival and escaped to the convoy of Governor Adeleke when the police attempted his arrest.

The ilesha killings which happened in Ilesa last Sunday and Tuesday where no fewer than four people were killed while a traditional ruler, the Alamo of Aiyegbaju-Ijesa, Oba Abidemi Adeyemi, and others were severely wounded, has also been linked to the daredevil PDP political thug.

It has been observed that the inauguration of the administration of Governor Adeleke heralded the influx of political hoodlums into the state who have been enjoying executive protection at the Ede country home of the Adelekes from police arrest. They find refuge there to evade arrest.

Observations over time have also shown that the governor, who goes about with the thugs of all shades, showing preference for their presence wherever he may be so much so that he now extends to them political patronage of employments and empowerment.

As a demonstration of his love and preference for hard guys around him, it is on record that he last week gave a Special Assistant appointment to one Olagoke Ezekiel popularly known as ‘Oba Ezekiel’ , a known ‘hitman’ of a violent cult group in Kwara State.

However, after much pressure and heckling from the disturbed public, Adeleke in a press statement, directed the statutory law enforcement agents to take charge of the security architecture of Ijesaland, saying: *’We will no longer tolerate actions capable of disrupting the peaceful atmosphere in the state.’*

From the above submission of Governor Adeleke, it means his government was all along deliberately tolerating the actions capable of disrupting the peaceful atmosphere of the state.

The Osun State chapter of the APC nevertheless, consoled the people of Ilesa over the tragic violent attacks by the mentioned two factions of cultists fighting supremacy battle which resulted into fatality of innocent souls in the ancient town.

Having said that, the party chided Governor Adeleke to stop shedding crocodile tears over the tragic incidents, accusing him candidly that he could not wash himself clean over the crises in any part of the state as his administration is thuggery-friendly.

According to the state APC chairman, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement issued by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, in Osogbo, the state capital today, the Osun State people are not that forgetful not to remember that political deviants were let loose across the state immediately after the inauguration of the Adeleke administration on November 27, 2022.

Lawal asked Governor Adeleke if he has forgotten so soon that the political barbarians who are loyal to him and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) began the unchecked terrorizing and victimization of perceived and real members of the opposition APC and some innocent members of the public right from the Osogbo City Stadium, the venue of the event.

The APC chairman recalled that Adeleke has made the state a safe haven for political hoodlums to perpetrate their crime as he gives unfettered refuge to some of the criminals who are on the wanted list of the police.

Lawal stated that it is no longer news that some of the dangerous political thugs take refuge in the Ede country home of the Adelekes from where the instant services of some of them are activated to physically deal with political counterparts within and without.

The state APC chairman pilloried Adeleke and insisted that he could not feign ignorance of the role played by some of the thugs in the brazen rigging in the governorship election that brought him in in 2022 and the series of elections in 2023 where no fewer than 30 members of the APC were sent to the great beyond by the daredevil PDP savages.

Lawal stated that keen watchers of events in the state would not agree less that Governor Adeleke is a closet patron of violent scoundrels as he has appointed quite a number of them into his government as an expression of his gratitude for helping him thwart the electoral choices of the voters in the elections.

He enjoined the police to intensify their operations in order to get at other political hoodlums who wreck havoc in the state in the name of politics.

 

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Gunmen abduct 7-year-old girl in Abuja

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Armed men have abducted a seven-year-old girl in Yangoji village, Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mr Suleiman Musa, a resident of the village told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the hoodlums invaded the community in the early hours of Wednesday.

He said the hoodlums invaded the village firing several gunshots before breaking into some houses where they adducted the seven-year-old girl.

According to him, the quick intervention of a police team forced the gunmen to scramble out of the village.

NAN gathered that the Kwali Divisional Police Headquarters responded to the distress call on the attack at about 5 am on Wednesday.

A source said it was the swift response of police personnel, hunters and vigilance members led by the Kwali Divisional Police Officer (DPO) that saved the community from further harm from the gunmen.

He said that the hoodlums engaged the security team in gun battle before escaping with the abducted girl.

The source said that the security team is currently combing the area with a view to rescuing the girl and arresting the gunmen.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the FCT, SP Josephine Adeh, said she would get back to our reporter as soon as she gets details of the incident.

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