KC Luxury asks court to vacate property preservation order over alleged breach of fair hearing

Afolabi Michael Kazeem, popularly known as KC Luxury, has asked a federal high court in Lagos to vacate an order preserving his properties, alleging that he was denied a fair hearing before the order was made.

KC Luxury, who is standing trial alongside two others over an alleged 184.5kg cocaine trafficking operation and money laundering, is also challenging the court’s jurisdiction to make the order which was granted on September 25.

A preservation order is a court directive intended to protect assets from being sold, transferred or otherwise disposed of while a legal matter is pending.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, Emefo Etudo, counsel to KC Luxury, told Musa Kakaki, presiding judge, that the defence filed an application on October 13 after learning of the order through a newspaper publication.

Etudo said the defence had requested a certified true copy of the September 25 proceedings to establish what transpired before the order was made and enable it to file a further affidavit.

In the application, KC Luxury’s lawyers argued that he was not served with a hearing notice before the order was granted, thereby denying him an opportunity to challenge the application.

They cited section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees the right to fair hearing, and relied on some other judicial authorities.

The defence maintained that the alleged procedural irregularity rendered the proceedings a nullity. It is asking the court to strike out the proceedings for want of jurisdiction, vacate the order and direct the immediate release of the affected properties.

Abu Ibrahim, counsel to the applicant, told the court that the business of the day was for a report. He said the court granted the preservation order on September 25 and directed the applicant to publish it in a widely circulated newspaper before the matter was adjourned until December 3 for hearing.

Further addressing the court, Etudo also raised concerns about KC Luxury’s health, saying that his client was in a critical condition.

“My Lord, just as a form of information to the court, the first defendant is between life and death as we speak,” he said.

The lawyer alleged that KC Luxury was taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) on Tuesday but was subsequently moved by the police to the Police Hospital.

He further claimed that his client’s lungs were no longer functioning properly.

“Only the living can be tried,” Etudo added.

An affidavit supporting the application, sworn by Adepeju Afolabi, KC Luxury’s wife,  also raised concerns about his deteriorating health and stated that he was receiving treatment at LUTH.

The affidavit included a medical report dated September 15, 2026, issued by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s medical unit at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command in Lagos.

The report, signed by Odey John C., head of the medical unit, identified KC Luxury as a 49-year-old man with chronic asthma. It documented recurrent breathlessness, wheezing and chest pain despite treatment, and recommended an assessment by a consultant respiratory physician or pulmonologist.

DEFENCE ALLEGES NDLEA PLAN TO SELL PROPERTIES

The defence also alleged that the NDLEA had initiated steps to sell the properties covered by the preservation order.

According to the supporting affidavit, KC Luxury told his wife during a visit to the Ikoyi Correctional Centre on October 2 that he had learnt from media reports that the court had ordered the preservation of his properties. She alleged that he subsequently informed her that the agency was making arrangements to sell the assets.

The defence questioned the need to preserve the properties, arguing that they were not perishable and that KC Luxury remained presumed innocent because his criminal trial had not been concluded.

The court has yet to determine the application challenging the preservation order.

BACKGROUND

KC Luxury is standing trial alongside Boniface Freeman Ochoche Sule and Ikechukwu Ekugo Patriarch on a second amended 22-count charge filed by the NDLEA over alleged conspiracy, cocaine trafficking and money laundering.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The agency alleged that the trio conspired with two other suspects, Atandare Oladipupo Oluwarotimi and Latifat Yusuf, who were arrested in London, to export 184.5kg of cocaine concealed in five consignments through a Lagos-based courier logistics company to the United Kingdom.

The prosecution further alleged that KC Luxury facilitated the shipment and paid N13.2 million from a Mallamawa Ventures account with Zenith Bank to BOT Express Logistics for the consignment.

The NDLEA also alleged that some of the funds were used to acquire luxury vehicles and landed properties.

The defendants have denied the allegations.

The court had previously dismissed their bail applications, citing the gravity of the alleged offences, the severity of the punishment upon conviction and the possibility that they might abscond. The court subsequently ordered an accelerated hearing of the criminal case.(TheCable)