Baba Ijesha walks free. Three years gone. Appeal Court clears him
Oluwaseun Lawal
Friday felt different. Olanrewaju Omiyinka—Baba Ijesha to most—took a breath that wasn’t measured by bars. He has been in custody for more than three years. A long chapter. On November 14, 2025, he walked out.
Word broke fast. Not through a press room, but a phone screen. Actor Yomi Fabiyi went on Instagram and said it plain: you’re out, you’re free, you’re better now. He praised the Appeal Court’s decision. He called the long-running case a sham, a world where sentiment beat law and truth.
Baba Ijesha was convicted in July 2022 by the Lagos State High Court, in a case involving sexual assault of a 14-year-old. The sentence totaled 16 years, though the counts and concurrency made the math complicated for many. He appealed. Now, the Appeal Court has cleared him and ordered his release.
Outside, Some say justice has finally corrected itself. Others say wounds don’t just vanish because a court flips a page. Both things can be true in a country where law and emotion often walk the same narrow road. Nigeria is like that sometimes. Loud. Tender. Tired. Still hopeful.
So what happens next? Appeals have endings; conversations don’t. The case leaves behind questions about belief, power, fame, and how we treat the most vulnerable among us. It also leaves a taste of how our courts can surprise—sometimes late, sometimes loud, sometimes both. Justice isn’t a straight road here. It bends, it pauses, it drags its feet. Then, occasionally, it runs.
And one more thing. People are watching. They always are. They’ll remember who said what, and when. They’ll remember the silence too. Because even when a gate swings open and a man steps out, the questions don’t stop at the threshold. They wait. They follow. They ask again.
