The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has verified that its officials have been arrested for allegedly allowing Nadeem Anjarwalla, the Binance regional manager for Africa, to escape.
Zakari Mijinyawa, head of strategic communication at ONSA, stated that initial investigations indicate Anjarwalla left 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.
“Recall that the Federal Government of Nigeria, like other governments around the world, has been investigating money laundering and terrorism financing transactions perpetrated on the Binance currency exchange platform.
“Until his escape, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan nationalities and serving as Binance’s Africa regional manager, was being tried by Nigerian courts. The suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a court in Nigeria. He was scheduled to appear before the court again on 4 April 2024.
”We urge the Nigerian public and the international community to provide whatever information they have that can assist law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect.”
After appearing in court last week, the court had ordered Anjarwalla and his colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, to remain in detention in Nigeria for at least two more weeks, even though they had not been charged with a crime.
However, on Monday morning, news surfaced that Anjarwalla had escaped from detention and left the country.
