The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has filed an appeal against a Federal High Court ruling that discharged and acquitted Lagos nightclub owner Mike Nwalie, popularly known as Pretty Mike, of drug related charges, arguing the trial judge got it wrong when he accepted a no case submission without properly weighing the evidence.
Justice Ambrose Lewis Allagoa’s April 15, 2026 ruling upheld a no case submission filed by Pretty Mike and co defendant Joachim Hillary, supervisor of Proxy Lagos Night Club in Victoria Island, finding the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case and discharging both men without requiring them to open a defence. The pair had been arraigned by the NDLEA on November 5, 2025 on a three count charge covering conspiracy, unlawful possession of hard drugs and knowingly permitting the club premises to be used for illegal drug activity, stemming from an October 26, 2025 raid on the club at 7 Akin Adesola Street, during which the agency says operatives recovered 200 grams of Cannabis Sativa and 177 cylinders of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, totalling 364.662 kilograms. Both men pleaded not guilty and were granted bail of N50 million each with two sureties apiece, with trial beginning after the matter was adjourned to January 14, 2026.
At the close of the prosecution’s case, defence counsel Dada Awosika elected to file a no case submission, arguing the prosecution had not built a case strong enough to require a defence, and Justice Lewis Allagoa agreed, ruling that the evidence presented did not disclose a prima facie case and that at its highest, the prosecution’s evidence raised mere suspicion, insufficient to ground a criminal conviction. Dissatisfied, the NDLEA, through prosecutor Buhari Abdullahi, filed a Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal’s Lagos Division, arguing the ruling occasioned a miscarriage of justice and was perverse against the weight of evidence presented at trial. The agency contends sufficient evidence was led to establish unlawful possession against Hillary under Section 20(2)(b) of the NDLEA Act and the offence of allowing premises to be used for drug activity against Pretty Mike under Section 12, arguing the trial judge never properly evaluated the prosecution’s evidence before reaching his decision, including testimony from the fourth and fifth prosecution witnesses that the agency says sufficiently established unlawful possession against Hillary despite the judge’s finding that no drugs were recovered in the defendants’ possession. The Court of Appeal has yet to fix a hearing date.
