Crime & Justice
Immigration Intercepts Two With ₦34m Allegedly Meant For Kidnap Ransom
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has intercepted two persons in Adamawa State with ₦34 million in cash, with the suspects allegedly linked to a kidnapping syndicate.
The suspects were intercepted with the cash during an operation in the state.
The Comptroller of Immigration Service, Sani Sule-Jega, disclosed this at a media briefing in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
According to him, preliminary investigations showed that the suspects claimed the money was intended to pay ransom for their abducted brother.
In a separate operation, the Adamawa State Command of the NIS also intercepted 17 irregular migrants at Rumde Baruw in Yola North Local Government Area of the state.
The undocumented migrants were intercepted at a private three-bedroom residence during an operation by officers of the command.
Sule-Jega said preliminary profiling showed that 13 of the migrants were Cameroonian nationals, comprising eight males and five females, while the remaining four were Chadian nationals, all males.
The Comptroller noted a shift in the accommodation pattern of undocumented migrants, particularly their increasing use of private and unregistered apartments instead of conventional lodging facilities such as hotels.
He said the service was intensifying surveillance and intelligence-led operations to identify and address emerging patterns of irregular migration in the state.
Sule-Jega reiterated the command’s commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s territorial integrity, improving migration management and strengthening border security.
He urged members of the public to remain vigilant and provide credible information that could assist security agencies in maintaining peace and security across the state.
The suspects and recovered cash have been taken into custody for further investigation and necessary action in accordance with established procedures and applicable laws.
The Comptroller General of Immigration has directed that the suspects and exhibits be handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
Justice Friday Ogazi of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Wednesday adjourned until September 21, 2026, the hearing of pending applications in the case involving detained businessman and social media influencer, Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known as KC Luxury.
The adjournment followed submissions by counsel to Kazeem, Abdulakeem Labi-Lawal, SAN, and counsel to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Abu Ibrahim, that the court should await the ruling of a sister court on an application challenging its jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
At the proceedings, Labi-Lawal told the court that although the NDLEA had obtained an order authorising it to keep Kazeem in custody for 30 days to conduct further investigations, the order did not expressly mandate that he remain detained throughout the entire period.
The senior lawyer further submitted that the NDLEA could release his client on bail if it was satisfied with the progress of its investigation.
The lawyer explained that Kazeem had challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to grant the detention order, adding that the application had already been argued and the parties were awaiting the court’s ruling.
He urged Justice Ogazi to adjourn the matter to enable the parties to respond to the processes already filed.
Labi-Lawal noted that the respondents had served their counter-affidavit on the applicant’s legal team and that the applicant had five days within which to respond.
Ibrahim, counsel to the NDLEA, did not oppose the application for adjournment but clarified that the 30-day remand order was obtained in August, before Kazeem subsequently approached the court seeking an order for his production.
Justice Ogazi consequently adjourned the matter until September 21 for further proceedings.
Kazeem, through his lawyers led by Labi-Lawal, is challenging the legality of the August 20, 2026, ex parte order authorising his detention for 30 days in the first instance for further investigation into allegations of drug trafficking.
In the application filed in Suit No. FHC/LAG/MISC/1199/2026, the defence is asking the court to set aside or discharge the order on the grounds that no criminal charge had been filed against Kazeem.
The lawyers argued that the Federal High Court’s jurisdiction to try offences under the NDLEA Act is distinct from its power to make a pre-charge remand order.
According to them, the fact that the Federal High Court has jurisdiction to try offences under the NDLEA Act does not automatically confer on it the power to remand an uncharged suspect merely to allow investigators more time to complete their investigation.
“The jurisdiction to try a person charged with an offence under the NDLEA Act is fundamentally different from the jurisdiction to remand a suspect who has not yet been charged,” the lawyers submitted.
The defence has also challenged the duration of the detention, arguing that the 30-day order is contrary to the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
The lawyers relied on Sections 293 to 299 of the ACJA, which provide the statutory framework for pre-charge remand.
They specifically cited Section 296(1), which provides that an initial remand order shall be for a period not exceeding 14 days in the first instance.
The defence argued that the use of the words “shall,” “not exceeding” and “in the first instance” leaves no discretion for a court to substitute 30 days for the statutory maximum of 14 days.
They argued that where investigators require additional time to keep a suspect in custody, the law requires further judicial scrutiny rather than permitting a single, uninterrupted 30-day detention order.
Kazeem’s lawyers have also asked the court to abridge the time for hearing the application and bring forward the September 17 date earlier fixed for the review of the detention order.
They argued that allowing the detention to continue could amount to an ongoing infringement of Kazeem’s constitutional right to personal liberty and render his challenge to the detention order nugatory.
Crime & Justice
₦480bn Ogun Meth Lab: NDLEA Opposes Bail for 3 Mexicans, 7 Nigerians, Court to Rule Sept. 2
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has opposed the bail applications filed by 10 defendants standing trial over the alleged operation of a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in a forest in Ogun State, describing them as flight risks who could evade trial if released.
Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos, after hearing arguments from both sides, adjourned until September 2, 2026, for ruling on the defendants’ bail applications.
The defendants are Anochili Innocent, Juan Carlos Meza Torrero, Nemecio Martinez Felix, Jesus Lopez Valles, Nwankwo Sunday Christian, Egwuonwu Uchenna Victor, Igwe Abuchi Remijus, Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike Joshua, Omonughwa Kingsley Orike and Emeka Nwobum.
They are being prosecuted by the NDLEA over their alleged involvement in the production and trafficking of methamphetamine at a clandestine laboratory located at Iloti Village, in the Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The prosecution had earlier filed an 11-count charge against the defendants in Suit No. FHC/CR/430/2026 before Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
The charge centres on the alleged production and possession of 2,419.48 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, a controlled psychotropic substance, as well as the alleged acquisition, transportation and possession of precursor chemicals used in the production of the illicit drug.
At the resumed proceedings on the bail applications, counsel to the defendants, Chief Benson Ndakara, told Justice Aluko that he had approached the vacation court because of the urgency of the applications, stressing that the matter concerned the liberty and fundamental rights of the defendants, who are currently being held in custody.
Ndakara said the prosecution had been served with the bail applications and had filed its response.
In the affidavit supporting the applications, the defendants argued that their continued detention was unjustified, particularly in the case of the first defendant, whom they said was not found in possession of any illicit drug.
They also maintained that they were presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.
The defendants further argued that the alleged offences were bailable and expressed their readiness to provide reliable sureties and comply with any conditions that might be imposed by the court.
They also raised concerns about the health of some of the defendants, claiming that their medical conditions required special medical attention and warranted their release on bail.
Opposing the applications, NDLEA counsel, Barrister Buhari Abdullahi, urged Justice Aluko to reject the request, arguing that there was no exceptional urgency warranting the defendants’ resort to the vacation court.
Abdullahi said the substantive criminal proceedings were already before Justice Musa Kakaki, where the defendants had been arraigned, their pleas taken and an order made for an accelerated trial.
He further informed the court that the prosecution had already called its first witness, who had testified in the case.
The NDLEA lawyer, relying on the agency’s counter-affidavit, argued that the defendants constituted flight risks and that granting them bail could frustrate the trial.
According to him, some of the defendants are foreign nationals and could leave Nigeria if released.
Abdullahi told the court that three of the defendants are Mexican nationals, while the first defendant, whom the prosecution described as the alleged financier and organiser of the syndicate, holds dual Nigerian and Mexican citizenship.
He argued that the international composition of the defendants heightened the risk of their fleeing the country to avoid prosecution.
On the health concerns raised by the defendants, the NDLEA counsel said the applicants had not established that their medical conditions were so serious that they could not be managed by the medical facilities available at the correctional centre.
He urged the court to disregard the health argument as a basis for granting bail.
The prosecutor also challenged the defendants’ claim that they intended to use the property where the clandestine laboratory was discovered for legitimate businesses, including poultry farming, piggery and alcoholic wine production.
According to Abdullahi, investigations by the agency established that the clandestine laboratory at Iloti Village was owned, financed and sponsored by the first defendant and had been specifically established and equipped for the illicit production of methamphetamine.
He said various equipment, apparatus, chemicals and materials allegedly associated with the production of controlled substances were recovered from the facility.
Among the substances allegedly recovered, he said, was Phenyl-2-Propanone (P2P), described by the prosecution as a major precursor agent for the production of methamphetamine.
The prosecution said it would rely on physical, documentary, forensic and laboratory evidence during the trial to establish its allegations against the defendants.
Earlier, in the substantive charge, the NDLEA alleged that the defendants were members of an organised network involved in the illicit production and trafficking of methamphetamine, as well as the acquisition and transportation of precursor chemicals required for its manufacture.
The prosecution said the 10 defendants comprised three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians, describing the composition of the group as evidence of the alleged international and transnational character of the criminal enterprise.
The NDLEA also alleged that precursor chemicals, including toluene, P2P, phenylacetic acid, acetone and hydrochloric acid, were transported from Lagos to the forest laboratory in Ogun State.
The chemicals were allegedly conveyed using a Toyota Tacoma, a Mercedes-Benz with registration number APP 942 YL and a Toyota Highlander with registration number GWA 662 DJ.
The prosecution further alleged that the defendants unlawfully possessed substantial quantities of precursor chemicals intended for the manufacture of methamphetamine, including 358 kilogrammes of toluene, 1,834 kilogrammes of hydrochloric acid and 22.5 kilogrammes of acetone, alongside unspecified quantities of P2P and phenylacetic acid.
The first defendant, Anochili, was also accused of owning and operating the fenced property in Mowe Forest where the clandestine laboratory was allegedly located. The NDLEA alleged that he knew the property was being used for the illegal production of methamphetamine.
The charges were brought under Sections 11(a), 12, 14(b), 19, 20(1)(e) and 20(1)(g) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, with the offences punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the Act.
The defendants have denied the allegations and are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
After listening to the arguments of counsel, Justice Aluko adjourned ruling on the bail applications until September 2, 2026.
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