Baba Ijesha told victim ‘we have unfinished business,’ child forensic expert tells court

A child forensic interview expert, Anike Ajayi-Kayode, on Tuesday, narrated before an Ikeja Special Offences Court how Nollywood actor Olanrewaju James (Baba Ijesha) allegedly groomed and defiled a minor (name withheld).

She said after defiling the minor at seven years old, Baba Ijesha told her ‘we have unfinished business,’ after they met when she was 14 years old.

Ms Ajayi-Kayode is the executive director of the Cece Yara Foundation, a non-governmental organisation founded to prevent child sexual abuse and provide emergency intervention for children.

Testifying as the third prosecution witness, Ms Ajayi-Kayode told the court that she was a certified child forensic interview specialist and had participated in over 25 child forensic interviews.

Led in evidence by Olayinka Adeyemi, Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ms Ajayi-Kayode pointed out that the alleged victim was relaxed, cooperative, and could recall events when she was interviewed.

“The clinal presentation of child sexual abuse was quite evident. The perpetrator engaged the child in sexual activity when she was seven years old on two occasions. On April 19, 2021, he sexually harassed her, touching her body. He told her: ‘I touched you some years back. You are so grown, so developed. Do you have a boyfriend? We have some unfinished business,” said the forensic expert. “These are the clinical presentations of child sexual abuse.

“These are the dynamics of child sexual abuse and the modus operandi perpetrators or – inculcation of secrecy, intimidation, threat or coercion.”

The expert further noted that child sexual abuse involved only the victim and the perpetrator, adding that a minor might not comprehend the magnitude of the offence because of being vulnerable.

Ms Ajayi-Kayode added that after the interview, she drafted a forensic interview report. A copy was presented to the court by the prosecution as evidence. It was marked as Exhibit G.