Court Dismisses NDLEA Bid to Stop Reopening of Proxy Night Club, Orders Contempt Notice on Chairman

The Federal High Court in Lagos has dismissed an application by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) seeking to halt the unsealing of Proxy Night Club, Victoria Island, and has ordered that contempt proceedings be served on the NDLEA Chairman by substituted means.

Justice Lewis-Allagoa, in a ruling delivered on Wednesday, refused the agency’s motion for a stay of execution of the court’s December 5, 2025 order, which directed that the nightclub be reopened pending the determination of an appeal. The judge held that the application lacked merit and failed to meet the legal requirements for the grant of a stay.

The NDLEA had filed the motion on December 10, 2025, supported by an affidavit and notices of appeal. However, the defendants opposed the application, urging the court to dismiss it. In his ruling, Justice Lewis-Allagoa noted that an applicant seeking a stay of execution must demonstrate special and exceptional circumstances, a threshold he said the NDLEA failed to satisfy.

The court further held that while the agency sought to stay the December 5 ruling, it did not apply to stay the earlier November 28, 2025 decision upon which the later order was based. The judge described this omission as a “crucial lapse” that was fatal to the application.

Justice Lewis-Allagoa also found that the motion was tainted by abuse of court process and forum shopping, adding that this had been admitted by the prosecution during earlier proceedings. He observed that the notices of appeal did not disclose any substantial grounds capable of justifying a stay and faulted the NDLEA for being indolent in compiling records, despite designating the appeal as a fast-track matter.

The case followed a midnight raid by the NDLEA on October 26, 2025, at Proxy Night Club, during which socialite Mike Nwogu, popularly known as Pretty Mike, and over 100 guests were arrested over alleged drug-related activities. The defendants were later granted bail.

In a related ruling, the court ordered that Form 48, a notice of consequences of disobedience of court order, be served on the NDLEA Chairman by substituted means and admonished him to comply fully with the subsisting orders. The case was adjourned to February 9 and 10, 2026, for continuation of trial.