A federal high court sitting in Ikoyi has discharged Pretty Mike, a nightclub owner, and club supervisor Joachim Hillary, ruling that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
Ambrose Lewis-Alagoa, the presiding judge, on Wednesday upheld the defendants’ no-case submission, thereby bringing the drug-related prosecution to an end at the preliminary stage.
The two had been arraigned on charges bordering on conspiracy, unlawful possession of hard drugs, and allegedly allowing illicit drug activities at Pretty Mike’s Proxy Lagos nightclub in Victoria Island.
The NDLEA had told the court that during a raid on October 26, its operatives recovered 169 cylinders of nitrous oxide (commonly known as laughing gas) with a combined weight of 384.662 kilograms, alongside 200 grams of cannabis sativa.
According to the agency, the substances were intended for use at an illegal drug party, and it sought the forfeiture of the nightclub as an “instrumentality of crime”.
However, Chikaosolu Ojukwu (SAN), lead counsel to the defence, filed a no-case submission, maintaining that the prosecution failed to present any credible or admissible evidence directly linking his clients to the alleged offences.
He argued that the evidence before the court was weak, inconsistent, and legally insufficient to justify calling the defendants to open their defence.
The defence further maintained that mere suspicion or circumstantial claims, without clear evidential connection, could not sustain a criminal charge.
It also argued that the prosecution did not establish ownership, control, or knowledge of the alleged substances by the defendants, falling short of the legal threshold required to prove criminal liability.
In his ruling, Alagoa agreed with the defence, holding that the prosecution’s case did not meet the minimum evidential standard required to sustain the charges.
The judge subsequently upheld the no-case submission and discharged both Pretty Mike and Hillary without requiring them to enter a defence.
