Comedian Princess slams Biola Adebayo for her Baba Ijesha discussion

Comedian and actress Princess has unleashed a fierce critique of colleague Biola Adebayo, accusing her of insensitivity and cruelty for giving a platform to convicted actor Olanrewaju Omiyinka, known as Baba Ijesha, to disparage the family of a child sexual assault victim.

Princess, whose foster daughter was the victim in the Baba Ijesha case, took to Instagram on Tuesday to condemn Adebayo in a lengthy video statement, questioning how a self-described rape survivor could provide a platform for a convicted sex offender to cast aspersions on the victim's family.

She posed a pointed question to Adebayo, asking how she would feel if her own alleged rapist were to publicly disparage her family years after the assault, using the phrase "because I'm going to use 'claim' now" to emphasize her skepticism.

Princess argued that Adebayo's actions were driven by self-interest, prioritizing views and traffic to her platform over the well-being of the child victim and her family, saying "since it's not you and it's not your child, it's okay" to highlight Adebayo's perceived lack of empathy.

She also revealed that she and her family had faced relentless online harassment since Adebayo's interview aired, with continuous trolling, insults, and threatening messages that she had been blocking.

Princess further challenged Adebayo's claim to the Christian faith, stating that a genuine Christian would not seek to inflict pain on another person or their child, and emphatically declared "you are not a Christian, Biola" due to her perceived actions.

She insisted that Adebayo had no justification for uploading the interview, noting that she had her phone number and could have reached out before proceeding, saying "nobody puts a gun to your head that you should upload that video".

The outburst follows a wave of public criticism against Adebayo after she aired an episode of her podcast, Talk To B, featuring Baba Ijesha, in which the actor claimed he was set up in the case that led to his imprisonment and made references to the victim's family.

Adebayo had responded to the backlash on Tuesday, saying she was merely performing her role as an interviewer and had asked the right questions, and apologized but maintained that the interview was not intended to exonerate the actor or undermine his conviction.

Baba Ijesha was convicted by a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja in July 2022 for sexual assault and indecent treatment of a child, and sentenced to five and three years' imprisonment, to run concurrently, and his name has since been added to the Lagos Sexual Offenders Register.

Following his release, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice clarified that he was not acquitted of the offences, providing a clear statement on the status of his conviction.