The video of the 14-year-old minor allegedly defiled by a popular Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju James, also known as Baba Ijesha, was played at an Ikeja Special Offences Court on Wednesday.
The video was a recording of the child forensic interview conducted on May 15 by Mrs Olabisi Ajayi-Kayode, a child expert and Executive Director of the Cece Yara Foundation.
The video was played during the cross-examination of Ajayi-Kayode by the defence counsel, Babatunde Ogala (SAN)
During the interview, the minor described the interaction she had with Baba Ijesha on April 19, when she met him at her foster mother’s house.
In the video, the victim narrated how Baba Ijesha allegedly assaulted her seven years ago, when she was just seven years old, and how he tried again recently after she turned 14
The minor said the actor visited the house where she was staying with her guardian, Comedienne Oluwadamilola Adekoya, better known as Princess, and brought out his private part, and then asked her to sit on his lap.
She said she was engrossed in the cartoon she was watching on television, so she sat on his lap until she felt something wet on her body.
“I didn’t make a sound after seeing his private part. I sat on his laps myself and removed my pant, because of my concentration on the cartoon I was watching,” she said in the video played in court.
Using minor male and female dolls to depict how the defendant allegedly molested her, the girl said: “I sat in front of the television trying to watch cartoon,and he told me to come and sit on his lap and so I did. Then he removed his private part and told me to sit on him.”
The victim said she soon felt something wet and then went to the bathroom to clean herself up with a towel.
According to her, Baba Ijesha did not say anything afterward.
She claimed that the suspect returned again the following day and penetrated her with a car key
She told the child expert that the next day, Baba Ijesha came to the house with some fruits for her foster mother and she was asked to pick up the fruits from his car.
“The car was parked at a T-junction and there was a wall and a gutter there; no one was on the other side.
“The fruits were on the back seat; he opened the door in front and asked me 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.
Under cross-examination by the lead defence team, the child expert, Mrs Ajayi-Kayode told the court that she was a qualified lawyer and certified child forensic expert trained abroad.
She also said she was not a child advocate but a child forensic expert who had received training on child psychology and development.
She maintained that the brain of the minor was well developed to recall events that took place seven years ago, adding that the minor gave a good account of what happened to her seven years ago without interference.
When asked how she was able to determine if the minor was telling the truth, she said she only asked her open-ended questions that cannot be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but instead require the respondent to elaborate on their points.
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