In a video aired during hearings at an Ikeja Special Offences Court on Wednesday, a 14-year-old child (name withheld) claimed that Nollywood actor Olanrewaju James aka Baba Ijesha informed her he was her boyfriend.
According to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), the video was a taped recording of Mrs Olabisi Ajayi-Kayode, a child specialist and the Executive Director of the Cece Yara Foundation, conducting a child forensic interview on May 15.
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The footage was shown during the defense counsel’s cross-examination of Ajayi-Kayode. Mr. Babatunde Ogala is a Nigerian politician (SAN).
During the interview, the child recalled her encounter with the 49-year-old beleaguered actor on April 19, when she met him at her foster mother’s house.
He was invited when it was revealed that he had defiled her seven years ago and that a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera had been installed in the residence without his knowledge.
In the interview, the child stated that when Baba Ijesha entered the house, he pretended to be on the phone and that the defendant began examining the flat to see whether anyone was there before approaching her.
My kid, he replied, you’re a bright young lady. Have you got a boyfriend? I declined, and he said that since you don’t have a boyfriend now that you’re older, you’re now mine, and I’m your boyfriend.
“He claimed that when you were younger, I used to teach you various things. I inquired as to what he was doing so that I could record him on my phone.
“I was unable to record him because my phone was beneath the throw pillow because I felt he wanted to confess to what he did seven years ago.”
He said, “Don’t you remember, when you were little, me and you used to play together, and I used to teach you some things?” I asked him what contract he and I had, and he said it was a contract between us.
He invited me to sit on his legs, but I declined, and he told me that when I was younger, I was not afraid. In the interview, the minor said, “Now you’re terrified.”
During the April 19 encounter, Baba Ijesha began groping her sexually and asked her to bring him some water, the youngster told Ajayi-Kayode.
“He followed me to the kitchen, and it was at this point that my mother and the other men (CCTV firm employees) came in,” she explained.
The child had already told Ajayi-Kayode about what happened seven years ago when the Nollywood actor allegedly defiled her.
She said the first event happened when she was seven years old and Baba Ijesha came to visit her sick foster mother. She claimed she was watching cartoons on the carpet as he sat on the couch.
She said the defendant requested her to take off her underwear and then asked her to wiggle her waist while sitting on his laps as he showed her his private parts.
“I couldn’t remember how long I was on his laps before I felt some moisture because my emphasis was on the cartoon I was watching.”
“He wiped himself with a handkerchief, and he requested me to clean myself up, so I went to the bathroom and used a towel to clean myself up,” she explained.
The defendant allegedly told the youngster not to inform anyone about what happened between them.
Baba Ijesha arrived to her house the next day with some fruits for her foster mother, and she was ordered to pick them up from his car, the youngster informed Ajayi-Kayode.
The car was parked at a T-intersection with a wall and gutter on one side and no one on the other.
“The fruits were in the back seat, and he asked me to take them by opening the door in front of me.”
“He inserted the car keys in my private part while trying to kiss me while I stretched to pick up the fruits from the rear seat.
“I didn’t see him again for seven years after this happened,” she claimed.
The child expert gave the kid a male and a female doll to represent how the defendant allegedly molested her seven years ago during the interview.
To the delight of Ajayi-Kayode, the child demonstrated how the molestation occurred.
The actor is accused of indecently treating a kid, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration, and sexual assault by penetration, among other charges.
The case was adjourned to Oct. 21 for the continuation of the trial by Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo.