Two Binance Executives Are Still Detained in Nigeria: Here’s What We Know So Far

These two senior Binance executives have been detained in Nigeria since February 26th and there is no release date in view.

Despite Binance’s recent withdrawal of its peer-to-peer (P2P) service for the Nigerian naira market, two of its senior employees remain in the country’s custody against their wish. The identities of these two Binance officials have been publicly disclosed in a recent Wired report.

Binance Officials Remain in Nigeria’s Custody

The two senior executives are Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla. They flew into Nigeria on February 25th based on the government’s invitation to discuss issues revolving around Binance’s alleged role in crippling the USD/NGN exchange rate.

While disabling access to crypto-based websites like Binance, the Nigerian government claimed that Binance allowed P2P naira traders to manipulate the exchange rate. The crypto exchange consequently disabled the P2P feature for the currency after back and forth regulatory tussle.

After their first meeting with the government the next day, they were instructed to take all their belongings and subsequently moved to a supposed “guesthouse” at the country’s capital, Abuja.

The Nigerian authorities confiscated their passports without informing them of any criminal charge against them. The Binance officials currently have access to a television and a balcony in the government-owned facility.

Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen who works as the head of Binance’s criminal investigation crew and is also known for supporting the United States government in its crackdown on illicit crypto assets, has been contacted by a U.S. State Department representative.

Anjarwalla, on the other hand, is Binance Africa’s regional manager. A United Kingdom representative contacted him since he is a dual citizen of Kenya and the UK.

Binance Rep Comments

Without disclosing details as to when these officials will be released, a Binance spokesperson said:

“While it is inappropriate for us to comment on the substance of the claims at this time, we can say that we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to bring Nadeem and Tigran back home safely to their families. They are professionals with the highest integrity, and we will provide them all the support we can. We trust there will be a swift resolution to this matter.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has yet to issue a release date for both Binance representatives.