Gullible Baba Ijesha in Vengeful Princess’ Trap, By Michael West

The girl in question also appeared tutored to play along. She sat on the same settee with Baba Ijesha. There was no friction or forceful body contact throughout the scene. She acted like someone in the know of the plot.

It is not in my character to kick someone who is already fallen to the ground but to dispassionately review  the situation in order for others to learn from the mistake. A lot has been said, written and shared about the raging scandal involving Omiyinka Olanrewaju James a.k.a Baba Ijesha. I won’t deny him. I know him fairly enough to write about him. I don’t believe that I should defend him since he owned up to committing the crime. Those in the entertainment industry, his friends and numerous fans, Baba Ijesha has disappointed them all. I’m sure he is not alone in the ignominious misbehaviour. If others fail to repent, their own mess will soon be revealed.

My interest in this case is to interrogate the circumstances surrounding the allegation and how it took place. Let’s drop emotional sentiment and commentaries of condemnation of the suspect for now and do some critical analysis of the trajectory. When the sexual molestation allegedly took place seven years ago, was Princess not aware of it since then? If she knew at the time or later, why did she keep quiet? What manner of relationship existed between her and Baba Ijesha that warranted unrestricted access to her inner recess? What’s the motive behind the entrapment of Baba Ijesha for an offence allegedly committed seven years ago? Could it be that Princess didn’t see him in the last seven years or what? If seeking justice for an alleged abuse is the essence of the whole drama, couldn’t she go to a government agency or a Non-governmental organization, NGO, to lodge the complain and the suspect will be invited for investigation which may lead to his prosecution? Is there something more to this drama than what is trending on social media? If Princess is not liable in the face of the law for setting up her “friend” for disgrace, how about the moral implication of her vindictive action? By the time this case will be laid to rest, Baba Ijesha may not be the only one that would receive sentences in the court of public opinions.

Like Baba Ijesha, Princess is also a suspect that should be arraigned in the court of public conscience. Listening to her audio statement and video interrogation she did to humiliate Baba Ijesha, everything pointed to an act of vendetta and ambush against the unsuspecting pedophile Baba Ijesha. I want to believe that Princess is not telling us the whole truth about the matter. While she’s being clever in shielding her own part, she beamed the spotlight of condemnation on her prey – Baba Ijesha.

Princess and Baba Ijesha were “bosom” friends. According to her, she would have allowed him to live with her but she wanted to avoid becoming an object of gossip, more so she just lost her home. Please what manner of friendship or relationship among adults in their 40s that would be so deep as to contemplate co-habiting? Helpers could be anybody which was why she offered to sponsor his education all in the name of being “a friend and colleague.” I’m probing this background not to trivialise the seriousness of the alleged crime but to point out that Princess actually set Baba Ijesha up in order to deal with him for undisclosed infractions he might have committed during their crashed relationship. I want to assume that Princess knew about the incident when the alleged defilement of the minor took place seven years ago but chose to treat it as a “family issue.” Now that their honeymoon was over, Princess, having known his weakness, decided to bait him with the victim of his concealed crime in order to take her own pound of flesh.

While crime does not have an expiry date, but for Princess to boldly pretend that what took place seven years ago was the reason for her sudden cry for justice is not convincing enough. She is up to something ulterior in motive. I perceive that this scandal is just a smokescreen to get at her target. Deliberately setting someone up for a crime is a crime on its own. Therefore, Princess must also answer for her own moral crime, too. Two wrongs don’t make a right. You can’t fight a crime by committing another crime. Agreed that Baba Ijesha has owned up to committing the crime, his accuser must also be dragged to face her own “trial” in public for baiting someone to commit a crime in order to achieve a vengeful end.

What further amazes me is how some Nollywood personalities took positions either for or against Baba Ijesha. The Bible says everybody will bear the consequences of their iniquity. Baba Ijesha should be allowed to face the music.

She was bold enough to say she invited an Hi-Tech company to install a CCTV camera in the living room where she was sure the drama would take place. The girl in question also appeared tutored to play along. She sat on the same settee with Baba Ijesha. There was no friction or forceful body contact throughout the scene. She acted like someone in the know of the plot. I became appalled watching the ugly scene where a celebrated comedian sank his career shamefully due to his lustful cravings.

It is surprising that some of those calling for Baba Ijesha’s head are worse off in their private lives. We know how many of them started in the industry. Nollywood, like its ilk around the globe, is full of rot and sex scandals. There was a time sex was the cheapest form of hospitality freely given in the entertainment industry. One of the reasons many of them failed to keep their homes was the issue of sex scandals trailing them even in marriage. They want to eat their cakes and still have them for keep. Failed marriage is not peculiar to a particular field or profession but in the entertainment industry, the factors that ruin their marital relationships  are commonly similar. Anybody who wants to contest this fact should first find out before coming out.

Let me conclude on the note that no sinner would go unpunished. Baba Ijesha has learnt his lessons but in a hard way. Let those who think Princess just woke up from her slumber to demand for justice after seven years think beyond the facade of activism. Sooner or later, the untold story of this scandal would surface someday. Princess is known to be a cheerful, easy-going and generous woman by her friends and associates. Like some of her colleagues, marriage has been so challenging for her. It is rumoured that Baba Ijesha crossed the red line in their affairs, a situation that hurt her so much. I can’t confirm the rumour but Princess confessed that Baba Ijesha has been her close friend whom she would have allowed to move in with her. Whatever that means, please draw your own conclusion. And for her to ruin the career of a man she invested in his education in public space like she did now proves that beyond the alleged violation of her “daughter,” Princess actually has an axe to grind with Baba Ijesha, and unfortunately, he’s done for.

• West wrote via mikeawe@yahoo.co.uk

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