The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has confirmed the escape of the Binance regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla.
According to ONSA, Anjarwalla escaped by using a smuggled passport, adding that the officer in charge of his detainment has been arrested.
ONSA Head of Strategic Communication, Zakari Mijinyawa, said in a statement, “Preliminary investigation shows that Mr Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport”.
“The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention,” the statement reads.
The Binance executive was said to have escaped after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast.
The report further said he could have been flown out of the country using a Middle Eastern airliner.
Detained
Recall that Nuhu Ribadu detained two executives of the Binance crypto exchange platform and confiscated their international passports last month.
They were detained in Abuja on an invitation from the federal government, following the report of the alleged manipulation of foreign exchange trading in Nigeria undermining the naira.
Binance faces charges of alleged non-payment of Value-Added Tax (VAT) and company income tax, failure to submit tax returns and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.
The identities of two senior executives of crypto arrested were revealed later to be a US citizen, Tigran Gambaryan and British-Kenyan Nadeem Anjarwalla.