An Ikeja Special Offences Court has refused the bail application pending appeal filed by the convicted Nollywoord actor, James Olarewaju, AKA, Baba Ijesha.
Baba Ijesha’s bail was rejected because he did not meet exceptional circumstances and criteria to warrant the bail.
According to Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, the actor must show special and exceptional circumstances because the term given to him is five years which is to run concurrently.
Justice Taiwo also said there is no evidence that the appeal has been entered and there is no indication before the court that it will not treat the case expeditiously.
“It is in the view of this court that the applicant has failed to show special circumstances to warrant him bail because he is facing a serious crime,” he added.
Recall that Baba Ijesha is seeking bail on an appeal for the five years conviction of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
He had through his counsel, Mr Gabriel Olabiran, on August 10, informed the court of a notice for bail pending appeal has been submitted pursuant to Section 6 (6) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Olabiran argued that the application admitted the applicant to bail, either unconditionally or upon reasonable conditions, adding the application was brought before the court due to difficulty in getting a date at the Court of Appeal.
However, the state prosecutor, Mr Yusuf Sule, in a counter affidavit on August 18, 2022, argued that the defence failed in its address to establish the special circumstances which might grant the convict bail.
