Biden pressured American citizens to intervene in Nigerian prisons
The Biden administration is pushing for the release of Tigran Gambarian, a former US federal agent, and another Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwala, who have been held without a passport by the Nigerian government since February 26, 2024.
The Digital Chamber of Commerce made the appeal in a blog post on its website on March 15 and is leading the call for urgent diplomatic action to address what it sees as a grave injustice.
According to the post, the arrest of Tigran Gambarian sets a disturbing precedent in such questionable circumstances, suggesting that any American entrepreneur, especially those in the cryptocurrency industry, may face similar illegal actions by foreign authorities. A blog post says:
“The arbitrary detention of Tigray Gambarians is beyond the law. It is a matter of national honor and the protection of American citizens.
The Digital Chamber of Commerce believes Gambia's detention is arbitrary, without jurisdiction and a serious challenge to the norms of international law and diplomatic relations.
Nigeria, which receives more than $1 billion in US foreign aid annually, is an American ally, making the situation extremely difficult and unprecedented. It emerged in late February, the Financial Times reported on February 28 without clearly naming the detainees.
Related: Nigeria's crypto community divided over government bid for Binance user data
According to their families, Gambrian, a US citizen, and Anjarwala, a British-Kenyan citizen, arrived in Abuja on February 25. They came to Nigeria at the invitation of the government over a dispute with Binance over its illegal activities there.
The executives reportedly met with Nigerian officials the next day to address the government's directive to restrict the country's telecom service providers to Binance and other cryptocurrency exchanges. Officials attributed the devaluation of Nigeria's official currency, the nara, and facilitating the “illegal flow” of money to crypto exchanges.
However, instead of reaching a mutual understanding, Gambarian and Anjarwala were escorted back to their hotel shortly after the first meeting. They were ordered to collect their belongings and transported to a “guest house” run by the Nigerian National Security Agency at the expense of their families.
The arrests of Gambarian and Anjarwala come just days before Binance officially announced its exit from Nigeria on March 5.
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