Olanrewaju Omiyinka, aka Baba Ijesha, who was recently arrested over allegations of molesting a minor, may be released from custody on Friday, April 30 according to a police source.
Giving an update on the case, a senior officer, the Lagos State Police Command confirmed to PUNCH Metro that a directive has been issued to release him from police custody within the next 24 hours.
According to PUNCH, this is due to the ongoing strike by members of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, which has made it impossible for the courts to sit, and the suspect could not be detained indefinitely without trial.
A police source revealed that investigation into the case shows the actor did not defile the victim, adding that when she was questioned, the victim confirmed the same.
The police source said; “There was no case of defilement, people are just talking out of sentiment. They are not talking from the point of law. We interviewed all parties involved in the case for three hours today (Wednesday).
“The mother complained that her child was at the age of seven when she was defiled and the child pointed at Baba Ijesha. But the case was not reported until she was 14 years and under the law, the case has become statute-barred.
“Regarding this new case, the CCTV footage has been assessed and nowhere was it captured that Baba Ijesha defiled her. The footage only showed him touching the victim’s body but it never showed him having any sexual intercourse with the girl. The girl also confirmed the same thing.
“So, in law, it is a case of indecent assault and not sexual harassment, and it is open to bail. So, can we continue to keep him when the offence is subject to bail and when there is no court sitting? That is against his fundamental human rights and the police do not work on sentiments. Directives have been given out for his release on bail,” the police source added.
