The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has appealed the ruling of the Federal High Court in Lagos which discharged and acquitted Lagos socialite and nightclub owner, Mike Nwalie, popularly known as Pretty Mike, of alleged drug-related offences.
The agency filed a Notice of Appeal against the April 15, 2026 ruling of Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, which upheld the no-case submission filed by Pretty Mike and his co-defendant, Joachim Hillary, the supervisor of Proxy Lagos Night Club in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa had held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendants and consequently discharged and acquitted them without calling on them to enter their defence.
Pretty Mike and Hillary were arraigned by the NDLEA on November 5, 2025, on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, unlawful possession of hard drugs, and knowingly permitting the nightclub premises to be used for illegal drug activities.
The charges arose from an NDLEA raid on Proxy Lagos Night Club, located at No. 7 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, on October 26, 2025.
According to the agency, its operatives recovered 200 grams of Cannabis Sativa and 177 cylinders of Nitrous Oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing a total of 364.662 kilograms.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty and were granted bail in the sum of N50 million each with two sureties in like sum.
Trial subsequently commenced after the matter was adjourned to January 14, 2026.
At the close of the prosecution’s case, counsel to the defendants, Chief Dada Awosika (SAN), elected to file a no-case submission, contending that the prosecution had failed to establish a case requiring the defendants to open their defence.
In his ruling, Justice Lewis-Allagoa agreed with the defence, holding that the evidence adduced by the prosecution did not disclose a prima facie case.
“The evidence placed before the court does not disclose a prima facie case requiring the defendants to enter their defence,” the judge held, adding that the prosecution’s evidence, “at its highest”, raises mere suspicion, which cannot ground a criminal conviction.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the NDLEA, through its prosecutor, Buhari Abdullahi, filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, contending that the ruling occasioned a miscarriage of justice.
The agency is seeking an order setting aside the Federal High Court’s decision and directing the respondents to enter their defence.
In the Notice of Appeal, the NDLEA argued that the trial court’s decision was perverse and contrary to the weight of evidence presented during the trial.
According to the appellant, sufficient evidence was led to establish the essential ingredients of unlawful possession under Section 20(2)(b) of the NDLEA Act against Joachim Hillary, as well as the offence of allowing premises to be used for drug-related activities under Section 12 of the Act against Pretty Mike.
The agency further argued that the trial judge failed to properly evaluate the prosecution’s evidence before reaching the decision to discharge and acquit the respondents.
“The trial court did not, throughout its decision, evaluate the evidence adduced by the prosecution witnesses, thereby occasioning a miscarriage of justice against the appellant,” the notice stated.
The NDLEA also contended that the evidence presented by its witnesses linked both respondents to the offences charged.
The agency specifically challenged the trial judge’s finding that “no drugs were recovered in the possession of the defendants,” arguing that the testimonies of its fourth and fifth prosecution witnesses sufficiently established the offence of unlawful possession against the first respondent.
The Court of Appeal is yet to fix a date for hearing the appeal.
