Binance Executive Drags EFCC, NSA To Court

Tigran Gambaryan, a representative of Binance, has filed a lawsuit against the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, claiming that they violated his fundamental rights.

Presented by his attorney Olujoke Aliyu of Aluko and Oyebode Law Firm, Gambaryan filed a March 18 motion for redress before Justice Inyang Ekwo, offering five reliefs.

In a similar vein, Nadeem Anjarwalla, the regional manager for Binance in Africa, filed a separate lawsuit before Justice Ekwo after he escaped from detention on March 22.

In the cases filed under the numbers FHC/ABJ/CS/356/24 and FHC/ABJ/CS/355/24, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla named the Office of NSA (ONSA) and the EFCC as the first and second respondents, respectively.

The crypto exchange platform’s Gambaryan, a US citizen in charge of financial crime compliance, claimed that his detention and the seizure of his passport for international travel violated Sections 35 (1) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution, which in turn violated his fundamental right to personal liberty.

Read Also: Binance Boss Escaped Police Custody With Smuggled Passport – NSA

In addition, he asked the court to grant him instant freedom and passport return. He also asked for fees to be reimbursed to the respondents and an order to stop any further detention in connection with any Binance investigations. According to Gambaryan, he accepted invites from ONSA and EFCC to travel to Nigeria on February 26 with Nadeem Anjarwalla, who was representing Binance. Both were held after the meeting without official charges, even though they had attended as requested.

T.J. Krukrubo, SAN, Anjarwalla and Gambaryan’s attorney, informed the court at the hearing that the respondents had not been up even though they had been served. Additionally, Krukrubo noted their March 26 notice of withdrawal of legal representation for Anjarwalla.

In order to give the applicants time to find new legal representation and give the respondents a chance to react, Justice Ekwo noted the withdrawal of legal representation and postponed the matter until April 8.

In the case of Gambaryan, Krukrubo said that even though the EFCC and ONSA received the procedures, they still had time to react. He asked for an adjournment, stating that the responders had until the end of the following week to submit their petitions.

As a result, Justice Ekwo set the date for the following hearing to take place on April 8.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli