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The Nigerian government detained two Binance employees a few weeks ago. This was due to the country’s attempt to fight the devaluation the platform had on its currency. The executives were identified a week ago as Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla. However, the government hasn’t released them yet.
Financial Times Report stated the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) got a detention order from the Federal High Court and detained the executives. Furthermore, the report stated the two executives flew to Nigeria due to the ban the Nigerian government had on the Binance platform.
Their families are concerned about the situation and have made their concerns known. The families requested the Nigerian government let the executives leave Nigeria. They further asked the government why the two Binance employees were still detained, claiming it wasn’t right for them to do so.
The two Binance employees, Tigran Gambaryan, the head of financial crime compliance at Binance, previously worked in the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The other executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, is a British-Kenyan national and Binance’s regional manager for Africa. The two employees are confined to government property and waiting for trials. The government property is located in Abuja, the capital of the country.
According to Reuters, the two men appeared in the Nigerian High Court, and EFCC requested a new detention order on Tuesday. They claimed the previous order had expired. The executives and their lawyers opposed the request order.
However, the Federal Court did not grant the order but shifted the hearing to April 5th.
“At the court hearing in Abuja today, which was attended by Tigran and Nadeem, the court ruled that after hearing arguments from both parties, they would resume the session on April 5th,” the families of the two executives said in a statement.
The popular crypto platform has stopped its operations in Nigeria since March 8 and is working with the country’s government to bring its executives back home. In a statement, Binance said, “While it is inappropriate for us to comment on the substance of the claims, we can say that we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to bring Nadeem and Tigran safely to their families.”
“They are professionals with the highest level of integrity, and we will provide them with all the support we can. We trust there will be a swift resolution to this matter.”