A federal high court sitting in Ikoyi has discharged Pretty Mike, the nightclub owner, and club supervisor Joachim Hillary, ruling that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) failed to prove a prima facie case against them.
Ambrose Lewis-Alagoa, the judge, upheld the defendants’
no-case submission on Wednesday, effectively terminating the drug-related
prosecution at the preliminary stage.
The duo faced charges including conspiracy, unlawful
possession of hard drugs, and permitting illicit drug activities at Pretty
Mike’s Proxy Lagos nightclub in Victoria Island.
The NDLEA claimed that during an October 26 raid on the
club, officers recovered 169 cylinders of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) weighing
384.662 kilograms, plus 200 grams of cannabis sativa.
The agency alleged the substances were destined for an
illegal drug party and sought forfeiture of the club as an “instrumentality of
crime”.
Chikaosolu Ojukwu (SAN), the lead defence counsel, however,
filed a no-case submission, arguing that prosecutors presented no credible or
admissible evidence directly linking his clients to the alleged offences.
He contended that the evidence led was weak, inconsistent,
and insufficient in law to warrant the defendants being called upon to open
their defence.
According to him, mere suspicion or circumstantial
assertions without clear evidential linkage could not sustain a criminal
charge.
The defence further argued that the prosecution failed to
establish ownership, control, or knowledge of the alleged substances by the
defendants, thereby falling short of the legal threshold required to prove
criminal liability.
In his ruling, Alagoa agreed with the defence, holding that
the prosecution’s evidence did not meet the minimum standard required to
sustain the charges.
The judge thereafter upheld the no-case submission and
discharged both Pretty Mike and Hillary without calling on them to enter their
defence.
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