Yoruba Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju James Omiyinka, popularly known as Baba Ijesha, who was detained by police for alleged sexual assault has been granted bail.
His lawyer, Adesina Ogunlana, confirmed this on Monday evening.
“He has been granted bail…. We are working to perfect the bail. He was granted bail on health grounds. He has not been released. He will be released after his bail conditions have been perfected,” he said.
Among the bail conditions listed by the lawyer are two reliable sureties – one of them must be a level 10 officer, a direct blood relation, and ₦500,000 bail bond in like sum.
TCN learnt that Baba Ijesha was granted bail when magistrates went around police stations across the State, hearing cases of some suspects.
Ogunlana had in a letter addressed to the Commissioner of Police seeking Baba Ijesha’s bail on Friday that the actor was looking abnormally weak, lean and was limping.
A copy of the letter which was dated, May 14, 2021, and titled ‘Re: Olanrewaju James Omiyinka application for immediate grant of bail’
“We are aware that a piece of legal advice on our client’s matter has been issued about two weeks ago, disclosing prospective charges of bailable character.
“From all indications, the investigation has been concluded in his matter and it is inconceivable that the issuance of legal advice will now be a basis for the denial of bail as you have been widely reported in the press to have claimed.
“We submit that the continuous detention of Mr Olanrewaju James Omiyinka at your SCID Panti Yaba facility, for about thirty days now, in our respectful view, is in gross breach of his fundamental human rights as cognisable under the 1999 constitution the grand norm of the nation’s legal architecture.
“As of today when I met with Omiyinka in the company of his thespian colleague and ready surety, Mr. Yomi Fabiyi, he appeared traumatised, emaciated, and walked with a limp in his right leg. May I assure you, sir, that Mr. Omiyinka is not a flight risk and he is prepared to face trial.
Baba Ijesha was arrested last month when a fellow actor and comedienne, Princess, alleged that Baba Ijesha raped her foster child in her house seven years ago when the girl was just seven.
She subsequently set up a CCTV camera in her Lagos apartment to record the expected molestation of the 14-year-old girl when Princess invited Baba Ijesha to her house last month.
The scandal has become very controversial, pitching many nollywood stakeholders against each other over who is guilty and the propriety of coaching the girl in question to play along should the actor try to make sexual advances towards her.