The Lagos State Government has issued a strong rebuttal against reports that Nollywood actor Olanrewaju James Omiyinka, aka Baba Ijesha, was acquitted of sexual assault charges by the Court of Appeal.
The State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN), in a press briefing on Sunday, described the narratives of the actor’s exoneration as “false, misleading, and irresponsible.”
The clarification comes after the actor’s colleague, Yomi Fabiyi, announced on Friday that Baba Ijesha had been released and “cleared” by the appellate court.
“No such clearance occurred at any stage of the judicial process,” Pedro stated firmly, calling the claims a “complete distortion of the judicial record.”
Providing a detailed account of the legal timeline, the Attorney-General confirmed that the Lagos State High Court had indeed convicted Baba Ijesha on July 14, 2022, for sexual assault and indecent treatment of a child stemming from a 2021 incident, sentencing him to five years imprisonment.
While the Court of Appeal, in a June 2024 ruling, set aside convictions related to separate alleged offences from 2013-2014, Pedro emphasized that it “unequivocally upheld the conviction and sentence for the 2021 sexual assault charges.”
He further clarified that all legal avenues to challenge this conviction had been exhausted. An appeal to the Supreme Court was struck out in May 2025, and a final motion was dismissed in October 2025, leaving the Appeal Court’s affirmation of the conviction fully intact.
Pedro concluded that the actor’s release was not due to an acquittal but because “he had completed his full term of imprisonment as affirmed 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 insisted, urging the public to disregard contrary reports.
