The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, has backed the claims by Actress Iyabo Ojo and Comedian Princess that Nollywood Actor, Olanrewaju James, popularly known as Baba Ijesha, was not acquitted and cleared of sexual offences involving a minor by the Court of Appeal.
“Mr Olanrewaju James was not cleared of the offences of sexual assault and indecent treatment of a child,” the Attorney-General submitted.
In answer to recent social media postings by the two ladies, Actor Yomi Fabiyi, a known Baba Ijesha sympathiser, had on Friday, November 14 claimed that the convict was released from prison after a Court of Appeal dismissed his sexual abuse case.
Fabiyi claimed the appellate court had exonerated Baba Ijesha and that the entire case was a charade.
However, speaking to journalists in Lagos on Sunday, November the Attorney-General described the circulating narrative as false, misleading and irresponsible, stressing that it was a complete distortion of the judicial record and capable of severely misleading the public.
“No such clearance occurred at any stage of the judicial process,” Pedro stated firmly.
He confirmed that the High Court of Lagos State, on July 14, 2022, convicted Baba Ijesha for sexual assault and indecent treatment of a child over incidents that occurred in 2021, sentencing him to five years and three years respectively, to run concurrently.
Pedro explained that while the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on June 28, 2024, set aside convictions relating to alleged offences from 2013 to 2014, it unequivocally upheld the conviction and sentence for the 2021 sexual assault charges.
“The conviction was further solidified after a subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court was first struck out on May 29, 2025, on grounds of incompetence. A final motion for leave to file a fresh appeal was dismissed on October 9, 2025, thereby leaving the Court of Appeal judgment, which affirmed the 2021 conviction, fully intact,” the AG stated
Pedro clarified that the convict’s release was strictly because he had completed his full term of imprisonment as affirmed by the Court of Appeal, not because he was discharged or acquitted.
