The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has refused to grant bail to businessman and social media influencer Afolabi Michael Kazeem, popularly known as KC Luxury, who is standing trial over alleged trafficking of 184.5 kilograms of cocaine and money laundering.
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Justice Musa Kakaki, who delivered the ruling on Wednesday, held that Kazeem failed to establish special circumstances or present sufficient medical evidence to justify his release on health grounds.
The judge ruled that the defence had not demonstrated any material change in circumstances since the court’s earlier decision on the defendant’s detention.
He consequently dismissed the fresh bail application and ordered an accelerated hearing of the criminal charges against Kazeem and his co-defendants.
However, the court directed the Ikoyi Custodial Centre to ensure that Kazeem had unrestricted access to doctors and medical specialists for the treatment of any health condition.
Justice Kakaki held that an applicant seeking bail on medical grounds must present credible and compelling evidence showing why the court should exercise its discretion in favour of release.
“There is no medical certificate to warrant the court to grant him bail,” the judge ruled.
“If there is special medical need for the first defendant, where a suspect claims an illness, an expert in the field would have given an explanation.”
The ruling followed an application filed by Kazeem’s counsel, Chief Emefo Etudo, who urged the court to release his client on bail to enable him to receive specialised medical treatment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
At the previous proceedings on Friday, Kazeem was brought to the court premises in an ambulance while receiving oxygen.
His counsel informed the court that the defendant’s health had deteriorated and claimed that he was experiencing serious respiratory complications, including what he described as a collapse of his lungs.
Etudo told the court that the condition had been identified at the Police Hospital in Falomo, Lagos, where Kazeem had been receiving medical attention.
He argued that the defendant required specialised treatment at LUTH and urged the court to consider his medical condition as sufficient justification for granting bail.
The prosecution, however, opposed the application, maintaining that the medical materials presented by the defence did not establish exceptional circumstances warranting the defendant’s release.
Prosecution counsel Abu Ibrahim argued that the medical complaints raised in the fresh application were substantially the same as those previously considered by the court.
“Your Lordship looked at the application. The ailment is the same. It is the same asthma. But maybe it has become acute; the character and the ailment are the same,” Ibrahim submitted.
He maintained that the defence had not provided sufficient evidence demonstrating that Kazeem’s condition could not be adequately managed while he remained in custody.
The prosecution also challenged the absence of medical documentation establishing that the defendant required treatment that could not be arranged without granting him bail.
When the case was called on Wednesday, a correctional officer attached to the Ikoyi Custodial Centre, Adeleye Akin, informed the court that Kazeem was still receiving treatment at the Police Hospital in Falomo.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Kakaki said he had carefully examined the fresh bail application, the records of the proceedings and the arguments presented by counsel for both parties.
The judge held that a defendant seeking release on medical grounds must establish the existence of special circumstances through sufficient and credible evidence.
He reviewed the medical materials tendered by the defence, including exhibits AK5, AK6 and AK8, which contained photographs showing an individual lying on a hospital bed while receiving treatment.
The court observed that the photographs, without adequate supporting medical evidence, did not establish the existence of a health condition that necessarily required the defendant’s release from custody.
Justice Kakaki also referred to his earlier ruling delivered on October 2, 2026, in which the court considered a medical officer’s recommendation that Kazeem undergo further assessment by a consultant respiratory physician or pulmonologist.
According to the judge, the recommendation was intended to enable a specialist to evaluate the defendant’s respiratory condition, optimise his treatment and prevent further acute episodes.
The court held that the recommendation for specialist assessment did not, by itself, establish that Kazeem was suffering from an untreated illness or that appropriate medical attention could not be provided while he remained in custody.
“Having gone through the records of the court and compared the ruling of October 2, 2026, I hereby discountenance all the exhibits,” Justice Kakaki stated.
The judge also questioned the defence’s argument concerning the availability of specialised treatment in Nigeria.
He observed that the application appeared to suggest that the defendant could not receive adequate treatment in a Nigerian medical facility while simultaneously requesting his release to attend LUTH, a Nigerian teaching hospital.
“Is it not ironic that the facility he said he cannot be treated in is the same LUTH he wants him to go for specialised treatment?” the judge queried.
Justice Kakaki further held that the defence had not established any new circumstances capable of justifying a departure from the court’s previous position on the defendant’s detention.
He recalled that the court had, on October 16, 2026, ordered Kazeem’s remand in a custodial centre.
According to the judge, a fresh bail application based on medical grounds must disclose sufficient evidence of a change in the defendant’s condition or other circumstances that would justify reconsideration.
“However, changes in the circumstances were not disclosed,” he held.
“There is inability to show special circumstances to warrant bail. I hereby discountenance it in the present application.”
The judge maintained that allegations of serious illness requiring specialised treatment should ordinarily be supported by an assessment from a qualified medical expert explaining the nature and severity of the condition.
He held that the defence had not provided the necessary expert medical evidence to establish why the defendant’s condition required his release.
Justice Kakaki also observed that the correctional authorities could arrange for appropriate medical professionals to examine and treat Kazeem without necessarily securing his release on bail.
“There was nothing stopping the Correctional Centre from calling an expert to attend to the first defendant, or using the first defendant’s doctor if he had one,” the judge stated.
He consequently refused the application but directed the correctional authorities to ensure that the defendant received appropriate medical attention.
“The application is not granted, bail is refused to the first defendant. The case will proceed to accelerated hearing,” Justice Kakaki ruled.
“Where there is any health issue, the Correctional Centre shall give unfettered access to a doctor or expert for his treatment.”
The court’s decision means that Kazeem will remain subject to the existing remand order while receiving any necessary medical care under arrangements facilitated by the correctional authorities.
The ruling also makes clear that the refusal of bail does not prevent the defendant from accessing specialist medical treatment.
Kazeem is standing trial alongside Boniface Freeman Ochoche Sule and Ikechukwu Ekugo Patriarch over allegations involving 184.5 kilograms of cocaine and money laundering.
The allegations form the basis of the criminal proceedings against the three defendants, although the court has yet to determine their guilt or innocence.
Following the refusal of bail, Justice Kakaki ordered an accelerated hearing to ensure that the substantive criminal case proceeds without unnecessary delay.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until November 2, 2026, for the commencement of trial.
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