Previously, on July 12, 2022, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo (now retired) of the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court sentenced Baba Ijesha to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor.
Unhappy with this decision, Baba Ijesha, through his lawyer Kayode Olabiran, appealed the judgment. On June 27, 2024, Justice Folashade Ojo delivered the appeal judgment. She dismissed the charges of indecent treatment of a child and sexual assault of a minor from 2013-2014, calling the testimony of witness PW1 (Damilola Adekoya) hearsay.
However, Justice Ojo found Adekoya’s eyewitness account of the April 19, 2021 incident credible and noted that Baba Ijesha confessed to the crime in his police statements.
The appellate court confirmed Baba Ijesha’s conviction for indecent treatment of a child and sexual assault from the April 2021 incident, stating that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The court ordered: “I affirm the conviction and sentence of the appellant to 5 years imprisonment for indecent treatment of a child under 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 under 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.”
