By Uche Amunike
The 14-year old minor allegedly defiled by popular Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju James, also known as Baba Ijesha has told the Ikeja Special Offences Court how the actor defiled her with a key.
The video recording of the child forensic interview that was conducted on May 15, by Mrs Olabisi Ajayi-Kayode, a child expert and Executive Director of the Cece Yara Foundation was played during the cross-examination of Ajayi Kayode by the defence counsel, Babatunde Ogala (SAN).
During the interview, the minor give a vivid description of the interaction she had with Baba Ijesha on April 19, which was the first time she met him at her foster mother’s house.
She explained that when Baba Ijesha came into the house, he acted initially like he was having a phone conversation. Shortly after, he began to check the apartment to know if anyone was home before he came to her.
Hear her: ‘He said, ‘You’re a smart young girl, my baby. Do you have a boyfriend? I said no, and he said since you do not have a boyfriend, now that you’re much more mature, you’re now mine; I am your boyfriend.’
‘He said, ‘I used to teach you some things when you were small.’ I asked him what things so that I could record him with my phone.’
The minor explained that she was unable to record him because her phone was under the throw pillow. She thought he wanted to confess to what he did to her seven years ago.
She continued: ‘He said, ‘Don’t you remember me and you used to play together; I used to teach you some things when you were small; me and you had a contract.’ I asked him what contract?
“He asked me to sit on his legs and I said no and he said, ‘You that when you were small, you were not afraid. Now you’re afraid,’ the minor said.
According to the minor, that was the point when Baba Ijesha started to touch her sexually and asked her to bring some water.
She explained that when she went to the kitchen he also followed her and that was when her mother and the other men from the CCTV company walked in.
The minor had earlier narrated to Ajayi-Kayode, what transpired when the Nollywood actor allegedly defiled her seven years ago.
She narrated that the first incident happened when Baba Ijesha came to visit her sick foster mother when she was just seven years old.
She explained that Baba Ijesha asked her to remove her underwear and then brought out his private part and asked her to wriggle her waist while sitting on his laps.
‘My concentration was on the cartoon I was watching; I couldn’t remember how long I was on his laps before I felt some wetness’.
“He cleaned himself with a handkerchief and asked me to clean myself up and I went to the bathroom to cleaned myself up with a towel,” she said.
She explained that he told her not to tell anyone about what happened between them. On the next day, he returned to the house with some fruits for her foster mother and she was asked to go and pick up the food from his car. He parked his car at a T-junction where there was a wall and a gutter. No one was on the other side. The fruits she was told to bring were on the back seat, so he opened the door in front and asked her to take the fruits.
‘When I stretched to pick the fruits from the back seat, he put the car key into my private parts, and at the same time, he was trying to kiss me. After this incident, I did not see him again until seven years later,’ she said.
During the interview, the child expert give the minor male and female dolls to show the court how the defendant allegedly molested her seven years ago.
She gave a demonstration of how the molestation happened under the watchful eyes of the child expert.
While being cross-examined by the lead defence team, Mrs Ajayi-Kayode informed the court that she was not a child advocate but a qualified lawyer and certified child forensic expert trained abroad on child psychology and development.
She stressed that the brain of the minor was developed enough to remember events that happened 7 years ago and that she gave a good account of what transpired to her 7 years ago without interference.
When she was asked how she was able to determine if the minor was telling the truth, she asserted that she only asked her open-ended questions.
Foster mother of the minor, Damilola Adekoya, also known as Princess and Nollywood actress, Iyabo Ojo were also present in court to observe the proceedings.
The case was adjourned till October 21 by Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo.
