Business
Distressed wives of detained Binance employees beg Nigerian govt for their release
Elahe Anjarwalla and Yuki Gambaryan, the wives of Nadeem Anjarwaila and Tigran Gambaryan, two Binance employees detained by the Nigerian government, which began cracking down on cryptocurrency exchange platforms last month, have asked for their release.
Tigran, an American citizen and Nadeem, a British-Kenyan citizen, were surreptitiously detained by the Nigerian authorities on February 26th following a series of meetings in Abuja for which they had been invited by the authorities to attend.
The Nigerian government had blamed Binance, the world’s leading crypto exchange, and other platforms for contributing significantly to the rapid fall naira, with Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu leading the call for crackdown on cryptocurrency exchange platforms.
The two Binance executives had appeared in court on Wednesday in Abuja, and continues to be detained after court hearing without subsisting order.
The court ruled that after hearing arguments from both parties that they would resume the session on April 5th which is 10 working days from Wednesday.
The ruling came after the original court order to hold Nadeem and Tigran expired on March 12th and a request for a new order was filed by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The Judge did not grant an extension to the order.
Meanwhile, throughout their detention the families of Tigran and Nadeem have continued to plead with the Nigerian authorities for the release of their loved ones, a statement from their representatives said.
Tomorrow is Nadcom’s only son’s first birthday and on April 5″, Tigran’s son will turn 5. With their continued detention, both fathers will now miss key milestones in their childrens’ lives.
“I am completely heartbroken. I was holding on to the hope that Nadeem would be home in time to celebrate our son’s first birthday together and I am devastated this won’t be happening,” said Elahe, Nadeem’s wife in a plea to the Nigerian government.
“Nadeem has no authority to make high level decisions at Binance and I am once again asking from the bottom of my heart that the Nigerian authorities please allow him and Tigran to return home whilst they continue their discussions with Binance. I am also calling on the British and Kenyan governments to do more to get Nadeem back home to us. Please, we just want this nightmare to end.”
On her part, Yuki, Tigran’s wife, noted that his continued detention was taking a toll on their family, while urging the authorities to release them.
“Tigran was only supposed to be away from us for a very short trip and now over 3 weeks later we have no idea when we will see him again. I don’t know what to tell our two children who rush to the door every time they hear a car, eagerly hoping that their father has finally returned from a very long work trip,” she said.
“Tigran is globally recognized for his work in law enforcement and many of his peers would say that Tigran’s continuous efforts are what keep crypto currencies safe and clean. Please let him come home to continue this good work. The longer that our husbands are away from our families, the harder it is becoming for us to go about our daily lives. We are asking you from the bottom of our hearts and with the deepest respect that you please release them so that our families can be complete once again.”
