The Digest:
A federal high court in Ikoyi has discharged nightclub owner Pretty Mike and club supervisor Joachim Hillary, ruling that the NDLEA failed to prove a prima facie case against them. Justice Ambrose Lewis-Alagoa upheld the defendants' no-case submission, terminating the drug-related prosecution at the preliminary stage. The NDLEA had alleged possession of 169 cylinders of nitrous oxide (384.6kg) and 200g of cannabis sativa during an October 2025 raid.
Key Points:
- The court agreed the prosecution's evidence was "weak, inconsistent, and insufficient."
- The NDLEA had sought forfeiture of the club as an "instrumentality of crime."
- Defence argued that no evidence linked the defendants to ownership or knowledge of substances.
- The judge discharged both defendants without calling them to enter a defence.
- The case highlights the burden of proof required in drug-related prosecutions.
