The Biden administration is facing mounting pressure to take immediate action in securing the release of Tigran Gambaryan, a former U.S. federal agent and executive at Binance, as well as another Binance executive named Nadeem Anjarwalla. These individuals have been detained by the Nigerian government since February 26, 2024, without their passports.
The U.S. Chamber of Digital Commerce has made a plea for urgent diplomatic intervention through a blog post on its website, asserting that this situation represents a grave injustice. The organization believes that Gambaryan’s detention, under questionable circumstances and without due process, sets a troubling precedent that could potentially affect any American entrepreneur abroad, particularly those in the cryptocurrency industry.
The Chamber of Digital Commerce argues that this arbitrary detention not only violates international law norms, but also poses a significant challenge to diplomatic relations. Nigeria, as a recipient of more than $1 billion in foreign aid from the United States annually, is considered an ally. The initial reports of Gambaryan and Anjarwalla’s apprehension were covered by the Financial Times in late February, although the executives were not named explicitly.
According to their families, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, who holds dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and Kenya, arrived in Abuja on February 25 in response to an invitation from the Nigerian government. They were invited to discuss the ongoing dispute between Binance and the Nigerian government regarding alleged illegal activities in the country.
The executives reportedly met with Nigerian officials the following day to address the government’s directive to restrict access to Binance and other cryptocurrency exchanges for the country’s telecom providers. The government has attributed the devaluation of Nigeria’s official currency, the naira, and the facilitation of illicit fund flows to crypto exchanges.
Instead of reaching a resolution, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were escorted to their hotels shortly after the meeting with Nigerian officials. Their families state that they were instructed to gather their belongings and were then transported to a “guesthouse” managed by Nigeria’s National Security Agency.
Interestingly, the arrests of Gambaryan and Anjarwalla occurred just days before Binance officially announced its exit from Nigeria on March 5.
Source: United States Chamber of Commerce on X