*Defendant’s Counsel Cross-Examines Princess
*Court Adjourns Trial till August 11
The trial of Baba Ijesha continued today with the cross-examination of the foster mother of the victim, Comedienne Damilola Adekoya (Princess).
Princess, on Monday, played video footage of Baba Ijesha allegedly molesting the 14-year-old girl as evidence before the court in the absence of newsmen.
She was cross-examined today by the defendant’s counsel.
Princess explained to the court why and how she set up a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), she said: “The CCTV man, Mr. Brown set up the CCTV in the house. He owns a surveillance company. I don’t know the name, I only know Mr. Brown. I didn’t know the make of the CCTV camera used.
“Immediately I moved to the house, my landlord advised me to put a CCTV in the house. After asking for the price, I felt it was too high,” she told the court.
Though according to the statement submitted to the police as read in the court, Princess revealed that her friends and family advised her to set up the CCTV to get the fact which she did.
“When I spoke with my friend and mom, they told me to set up CCTV. I pleaded with the CCTV guys to help install it because it was urgent.”
“Then on Monday 19th April 2021, I invited Baba Ijesha to my house for a script conference, which he did. Unknown to him there was CCTV planted in my house.”
A member of the counsel, Dada Awosika, raised that the footage was scripted.
He said: “You will observe that when you see the CCTV footage being streamed, that the defendant did not at any time move his hand towards any sensitive part of your daughter’s body.
“Nowhere did he touch her boobs, slip his hands into her private part or caress any other sensitive part,” Dada said.
Princess refuted the claim and reiterated that he touched some sensitive parts of the girl. She said, “If you call her breasts, her thighs, her ears and her tongue not sensitive, then I do not agree with you.
“He sucked her ears, rubbed her laps, licked her whole body, sucked on her finger and he grabbed her boobs again.”
“It was not a movie, my daughter was trying to record him on her phone and you can clearly see him trying to grab the phone from her.
The defence counsel also noted that the girl left the scene to get the defendant water and comfortably sat beside him when she returned.
He also queried why the video had no audio and why Princess felt comfortable to leave her underage foster daughter with an alleged child molester.
Princess said: “The initial plan was for myself, my mum and foster daughter to confront him, but we felt he could become violent if we should confront him, and I decided to set up the CCTV camera that day.
“A few minutes to his arrival, my mother developed cold feet and felt as a grandmother she could not be able to be calm talking to him, so I was inadvertently left alone with my daughter.
“I could not believe that he would repeat the same action against my daughter knowing fully well that she is now 14 years old and can speak for herself and no longer seven years ago when he shut her up,” Princess said.
