Baba Ijesha Was Acting A Scene With Princess’ Daughter — Defence Witness
The first prosecution witness in the defilement trial of Nollywood star Olanrewaju James (Baba Ijesha) has claimed that portions of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage on the allegation were manipulated.
Lawrence Ayeni, the witness, also testified before the Ikeja Special Offences Court that the actor and the allegedly defiled youngster in the footage were acting out a script.
Mr. Ayeni, a Mechanical Engineering graduate, claimed to have prior experience in video creation as well as CCTV installation and maintenance.
The witness, who was led in evidence by co-lead defense lawyer Babatunde Ogala (SAN), told the court that one of the CCTV footage of the purported encounter had been tampered with during the editing process.
Four videos were projected on a screen in the courtroom during his testimony.
The defendant and the 14-year-old were shown in one of the films at the home of her foster mother, comedienne Damilola Adekoya, alias Princess.
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The defendant was arrested in April 2021, and the CCTV footage was taken shortly before his arrest. The defendant and the kid were seen sitting on a couch for a time before walking away from the camera.
When they arrived, the defendant handed her a cup, kissed her hand, and brought her close to him. They were conversing, but their voices were muffled.
“The CCTV has no audio because it was a fibre camera that was used. The voices you heard are of the persons who recorded the encounter, directing the script, and later edited the recording,” claimed the witness. “Baba Ijesha is acting what the director asked him to. The girl often looks at the camera, so she was acting out what she was told to.”
He added, “At the point of copying the content into a computer, errors could have been inputed, or it got tampered with.”
The other videos showed the defendant pleading for forgiveness from Princess when she accosted him. Another footage showed his arrest. The final footage showed his statement taken while he was in police custody.
Under cross-examination by the Lagos Director of Public Prosecutions, Babajide Martins, the witness admitted that CCTV footage could not be manipulated at the time of recording.
Mr Ayeni submitted that speculations of tampering with the recording or using various devices to record could not change the content or what was said in the footage.
The defendant faces a six-count charge bordering on the indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by penetration.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo adjourned proceedings until March 4 for the continuation of defence.
(NAN)
