Detained Binance Executive, Anjarwalla, escapes from custody in Abuja

Discombobulation is the right word to describe the feelings in Nigeria’s security circle at the weekend, following the escape from custody of Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of the two Binance executives detained in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion and other offences.

Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, and Tigran Gambaryan, an American overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on February 26, 2024.

Freedom Online learned that
Anjarwalla escaped on Friday when some security agents led him to a mosque to pray.

A source said President Bola Tinubu and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, have been briefed.
“Heads may roll soon”, he said.
He also told Freedom Online that some security agents have been arrested.
The source disclosed that the 38-year-old businessman with global connection escaped from the secured Abuja Guest House where he and his colleague were detained after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers “in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast”.

The source disclosed that after his escape, he flew out of the country, using another passport.
The mystery, according to the source, is that after his arrest, his British passport was seized by the Federal Government.

“The government is trying to unravel how he got another passport and why he was not ‘flagged’ at the airport before he flew out”.