The justice system in Nigeria is nothing to write home about. Women hardly ever get justice, especially in cases of femicide or sexual assault. According to Amnesty International Nigeria, more than 11,000 rape cases were reported in Nigeria in a single year, yet many survivors were denied justice due to different reasons like poor investigations, stigma, victim blaming, corruption, and failures within the criminal justice system.
Sexual assault cases rarely make it to court, and when they do, they are often treated with levity. A few months ago, we reported on the Fem Thrift case where she was sexually assaulted alongside a friend by a man who disguised himself as a client. He was later arraigned in court and the most recent update we got was from Fem herself, who cried out in a video about how the court ruled that there was no case despite the evidence presented.
So for a Nigerian court to actually see through a case of sexual assault involving a minor, convict an actor popularly known as Baba Ijesha, whose real name is Olanrewaju James, and even document him on the Lagos State Sex Offenders Register, you know it is serious.
A quick backstory…
In 2021, popular comedian Damilola Adekoya, known as Princess, went live on Instagram to accuse Baba Ijesha of sexually assaulting her foster daughter seven years prior, when the child was about seven years old. By the time Princess made this accusation, her daughter was 14. According to Princess, Baba Ijesha was not a stranger to the family. She said he used to visit them because he needed her help, which was how he gained access to the child. She explained that after the incident, she noticed suspicious behaviors from the girl and even got a report from the school that the girl was hypersexual, but the child did not disclose what happened until seven years later. By then, Baba Ijesha had stopped coming around. Princess said it was after the girl eventually opened up that they decided to set up a CCTV camera and invite Baba Ijesha. The footage caught him molesting the child again and it shocked the internet. Celebrities like Iyabo Ojo stood firmly in support of Princess and after much back and forth, Baba Ijesha confessed to the crime in a video. He was arraigned in court, found guilty, convicted on four of six charges, and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. In November 2025, he was released after serving his term. Princess then called for his name to be added to the Lagos State Sex Offenders Register, which was done.
A few months later, around March 2026, Baba Ijesha showed up on a podcast with Biola Adebayo, where he denied being a paedophile and described the entire thing as a setup. He then sat down for another interview with popular musician Yinka Ayefele. This caused public outrage because many believed he was trying to whitewash himself despite everything. Biola eventually deleted the video from her channel and made a public apology video saying she just wanted him to apologise and show the world that he was remorseful.
A few days ago, precisely seven months after his release, popular Nigerian stylist CEO Luminee took to her Instagram page to announce the birth of her son and confirmed that Baba Ijesha is the father. The announcement triggered public reaction and people had different opinions, which is perhaps the reason for this article.
There are a series of questions on everyone’s mind, including mine. If it takes roughly nine months to carry a pregnancy to term, how was this child born just seven months after his release? Did Baba Ijesha even go to prison at all? Was he released earlier than reported or was there another explanation for the timing? Even the idea of him having sex that could lead to conception while in custody is questionable, especially since Nigerian Correctional Centres do not operate a formal system of conjugal visits.
Aside from that, the public has been split into two. On one hand, people could not wrap their heads around the idea of someone getting pregnant for a convicted child molester who confessed to the crime. On the other hand, people argued it was time to forgive him and move on, that he had served his time and deserved a chance to redeem himself.
Now, in working countries like the US, Canada, or the UK for instance, a convicted sexual offender against children is not released and left alone. They are closely monitored by law enforcement, restricted from certain places, and mandated to undergo treatment programmes to reduce the risk. In the US, they are not even allowed to live near schools or playgrounds. But this is not the US or the UK; this is Nigeria, and whether or not similar laws exist here, we still need to have this conversation.
First, we have to understand that it is not every offence that sits in the same moral category. If someone stole food, told a lie, cheated on their partner, or unknowingly caused harm, yes, those things can be forgiven, though even then, forgiveness belongs to the person who was wronged. But this is different; we are talking about a child here. He began molesting the child when she was around seven years old. On no occasion should a crime against a child be reduced to debates about forgiveness.
What makes this situation worse is that CEO Luminee has a daughter who is around 12 years old. The man is dangerous around her, especially because research has consistently shown that there is a measurable risk of sexual reoffending among child sex offenders. This is exactly why many justice systems impose post-release monitoring and restrictions. So to simply put, there is a CHANCE that someone who has sexually assaulted a child will do it again.
The problem is not even about forgiveness; the problem is whether serving a prison term is enough to erase an ongoing risk, especially when children, the most vulnerable group, are involved. It is very easy for someone to hop from one podcast to another, use the common religious language “the devil made me do it”, and make public promises of change to earn sympathy. But where do we draw the line when it comes to someone who can potentially harm a child again? Unlike adults, children cannot consent, they cannot easily defend themselves, they cannot leave an abusive situation, and they cannot protect themselves. Some of them stay silent for years, just like the victim who did not speak up until seven years after the abuse started.
We need to understand that, as a society, our obligation is not to repair the reputation of a convicted child molester. It is important to take the safety of the children around us seriously because they depend on adults and on the public for protection. They cannot do that on their own. In our bid to forgive and forget a convicted man’s crime, we cannot afford to fail in protecting these children.
And just like May, a writer on Twitter, said in a recent comment on this case: If his victim will live with the trauma for the rest of her life, why can’t he also live with the criticism?
