Nollywood actress Iyabo Ojo and popular comedienne, Adekola Adekanya, aka Princess, have protested against the alleged plan to release actor Olanrewaju Omiyinka aka Baba Ijesha from police custody.
The celebrities held the protest at Panti Police Station on Thursday after news surfaced that Baba Ijesha may be released.
A senior officer at the Lagos State Police Command had told The PUNCH that a directive had been given for the release of Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju Omiyinka, aka Baba Ijesha, from custody.
The source said due to the ongoing strike by members of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, courts had ceased sitting and the suspect could not be detained indefinitely without trial.
The source, however, said the investigation into the recent allegation against Omiyinka revealed that he did not defile the victim, adding that when she was questioned, the victim confirmed the same.
“We are here at Panti, and he still here. They are not bailing Baba Ijesha. We are here and we have sorted it out,” the actress said in a video of the protest.
In the video, Princess was also seen crying. However, her colleagues and family members persuaded her to stop crying.
“Nigerians are watching,” one of the protesters assured the actress.
The Lagos State Police Command arrested Baba Ijesha last Wednesday over the alleged defilement of a minor.
“The case of defilement was reported on 19th April, 2021 by one Princess Adekola Adekanya ‘female’ at Sabo Police Station and transferred to the Gender Unit of the State CID, Panti, Yaba Lagos for proper investigation
“Based on preliminary findings, the suspect started sexually assaulting the victim, 14 years, since she was seven years old. The suspect confessed to the crime and was also captured by a CCTV camera in the house of the complainant,” the police had said in a statement.
During a live broadcast on Instagram on Wednesday, Princess said people, who were compassionate about her childlessness, entrusted the victim and five other children to her care, adding that after Omiyinka allegedly defiled the minor, she started behaving strangely.
She said, “The child started failing in school, I paid for private lessons and when I told my family, they told me we should pray, maybe it is spiritual. But I kept on saying that something is wrong, this child has changed.
“My friend talked to the child again to know what was going on, she told us what happened, I was shocked… I called the CCTV company to set a camera, we asked everybody to go out and stay in a neighbour’s house, she (the victim) was afraid, we said she should calm down…
“He came in and saw that there was nobody at home and I told him I want to see dstv people off and I will stay long…I dropped my phone, went out and locked the door. Two seconds later, he stood up, begin to check my whole house to be sure that none of the children were inside sleeping.
“I can’t begin to relay the things that he did, I was shaking because we were monitoring it on the phone. Police came immediately and picked him up, I asked him, Lanre, what is my offense? You know I didn’t give birth and the children were in my care so I won’t be thinking and you did something like this to me? He said it is the devil…”
(punch)
