Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has ordered the remand of social media influencer Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known as KC Luxury, and two others in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The trio were arraigned before the court by the NDLEA on a 22-count charge bordering on alleged drug trafficking, money laundering and related offences.
According to the charge, Kazeem, alongside Boniface Freeman Ochoche Sule and Ikechukwu Ekugo Patriarch, was alleged to have conspired to export 184.5 kilogrammes of cocaine to London. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. The prosecution counsel, Ibrahim Abu, urged the court to adjourn the matter for trial and order the remand of the defendants in custody.
Counsel to the defendants, led by A. Labi-Lawal, SAN, and Chief Benson Ndankara, informed the court that they had pending applications seeking bail for the defendants. The defence counsel urged the court to hear the applications, noting that the prosecution had been duly served. Although the prosecution did not oppose the hearing of the bail applications, it urged the court to reject the applications.
Labi-Lawal, SAN, specifically urged the court to grant bail to the first defendant, Kazeem, on health grounds. He told the court that relevant medical documents and other exhibits showing the state of Kazeem’s health had been attached to the bail application. Justice Kakaki fixed October 2 for ruling on the bail applications and ordered that the defendants be remanded pending the ruling.
Kazeem was arrested by the NDLEA on August 13 at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while allegedly attempting to travel to Paris, France. The agency alleged that his arrest was connected with the seizure of 184.5kg of cocaine at a DHL facility in Ikeja, Lagos.
Under the new 22-count charge, the prosecution alleged in the first count that Kazeem, Sule and Patriarch conspired with Atandare Oladipupo Oluwarotimi and Latifat Yusuf, who the charge stated had been arrested in London, to export the cocaine in five consignments to the United Kingdom. Other counts allege that Kazeem procured a logistics operator to facilitate the shipment and transferred N13.2 million as payment for the export.
The prosecution further alleged that Kazeem was involved in various money laundering activities, including transferring hundreds of millions of naira through different entities before directing transfers to other individuals and companies in an attempt to conceal or disguise the origin of the funds.
Key points
- The defendants were arraigned on a 22-count charge bordering on alleged drug trafficking, money laundering and related offences.
- Justice Musa Kakaki fixed October 2 for ruling on the bail applications and ordered that the defendants be remanded pending the ruling.
- Kazeem was arrested by the NDLEA on August 13 at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
