The Federal High Court in Lagos has granted the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) a 30-day extension of the detention of social media influencer and businessman Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known as KC Luxury, over his alleged link to a 184.5-kilogramme cocaine seizure.
The judge, Akintayo Aluko, granted the request on 20 August, after the NDLEA asked for more time to investigate Mr Kazeem’s alleged involvement in the drug trafficking case.
|
|
The agency’s application was filed a day after Mr Kazeem was taken into custody, according to the certified true copy of the enrolled order shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday.
Mr Aluko also granted an interim order preserving funds in Mr Kazeem’s Providus Bank account number 4005905755 and other accounts linked to his Bank Verification Number (BVN).
|
|
|
|---|
The funds are to be preserved pending the conclusion of the investigation and/or prosecution.
The judge adjourned the case until 17 September for the NDLEA to report on its investigation.
“That this case is adjourned to the 17th day of September, 2026 for report of investigation,” Mr Aluko declared in the enrolled order.
Stay Ahead with Premium Times
Follow us on Google News and never miss breaking stories, investigations, and in-depth reporting.
Add as a preferred source on Google
Another court challenge
The detention extension comes as Mr Kazeem is separately challenging his continued custody before another judge of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Justice Friday Ogazi, on Thursday, ordered the NDLEA to produce him in court at the next hearing and directed the agency to respond within five days to his suit challenging his detention.
The judge also ordered that the application, enrolled order and other court processes be served on the NDLEA within four working days.
The case was adjourned until 9 September.
Mr Kazeem filed the suit through his lawyer, A. Labi-Lawal, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009.
He is asking the court to declare his continued detention unconstitutional and a violation of his right to personal liberty under the 1999 Constitution.
He is also seeking an order for his immediate release or bail on liberal terms pending the filing of any criminal charge against him.
In an affidavit supporting the suit, his father, Eric Afolabi, alleged that his son had remained in NDLEA custody since his arrest without being informed of the offence for which he was being held or taken before a competent court.
Mr Kazeem also alleged that NDLEA operatives searched his Banana Island residence without showing him or his family a warrant and seized his iPhone 15.
He further accused the agency of taking and circulating photographs and videos of him while in custody, saying the images portrayed him as a criminal before he had been tried or convicted.
He is seeking N100 million in damages over the alleged publication of the photographs and videos, N50 million over his alleged unlawful arrest and detention, and N40 million for alleged invasion of his privacy.
Cocaine seizure
Mr Kazeem’s arrest followed the NDLEA’s seizure of 184.5 kilogrammes of cocaine on 3 August at a DHL facility within the premises of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) in Ikeja, Lagos.
The agency valued the consignment at about N39 billion and described it as its largest cocaine interception through a courier company in Nigeria.
According to the NDLEA, investigators traced the shipment to an international trafficking network allegedly moving cocaine from South America through Nigeria to the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.
NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa identified Mr Kazeem as the alleged Nigerian “arrowhead” of the network.
READ ALSO: NDLEA seizes N4.4bn ‘Thai Loud’; at Lagos ports, uncovers new trafficking route
Mr Marwa said the influencer was arrested on 13 August at the boarding gate of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos while preparing to travel to Paris.
He said intelligence indicated that Mr Kazeem was travelling on a business-class ticket.
The agency also stated that operatives recovered €7,750, £2,800 and N100,000 in cash, as well as expensive jewellery, from him.
It said a subsequent search of his luxury apartment in Banana Island led to the recovery of exotic vehicles and other assets.
The NDLEA alleged that Mr Kazeem used his business interests in gold, jewellery and luxury goods to conceal his alleged role in the trafficking network.
The agency also arrested Lawal Kehinde, an employee of a logistics company, whom it accused of helping to process and move cocaine shipments for export.
Mr Marwa said the investigation had uncovered the use of false identities, financial facilitators and contacts in the United Kingdom, adding that some suspects linked to the network had been arrested by law enforcement authorities abroad.
The NDLEA’s application for the detention extension was supported by an affidavit sworn to by Okonkwo Ebuka Anthony, an officer of the agency. It was represented in court by Okon Nora.
Mr Kazeem has not been charged with any offence, and the allegations against him have not been tested in court.
Discover more from Premium Times Nigeria
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
More News
