Binance executive sues NSA and EFCC for allegedly violating his Fundamental right
Comment
Tigran Gambaryan, an executive at Binance, has filed a law case against Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser (NSA), and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) due to an alleged violation of his fundamental rights.
ADVERTISEMENT
Olujoke Aliyu of the Aluko and Oyebode Law Firm, the attorney for Gambaryan, filed the initial motion on March 18 and asked Justice Inyang Ekwo for five reliefs.
In addition, Nadeem Anjarwalla, the regional manager for Binance in Africa, filed a separate lawsuit before Justice Ekwo after breaking free from legal custody. Respondents in both lawsuits, with the case numbers FHC/ABJ/CS/356/24 and FHC/ABJ/CS/355/24, are the EFCC and the Office of the NSA (ONSA).
Gambaryan requested a declaration in the initial motion that the 1999 Constitution’s Sections 35 (1) and (4) were violated by his detention and the seizure of his passport for international travel. In addition, he asked to have his passport returned, be spared from further detention, apologize publicly, and have the costs of his legal defense covered.
On February 26, Gambaryan, a US citizen in charge of Binance’s financial crime compliance, traveled to Nigeria for a meeting with the EFCC and ONSA to talk about matters about the company. Gambaryan and Anjarwalla dutifully attended the meeting; however, the respondents detained them and have kept them under custody ever since.
T.J. Krukrubo, SAN, representing Anjarwalla and Gambaryan, told the court that the respondents had been served but were not represented when the suits were called on Thursday.
Additionally, Krukrubo mentioned their March 26 notice of withdrawal of legal representation for Anjarwalla.
The matter was postponed until April 8 for additional consideration by Justice Ekwo, who took note of the withdrawal of legal representation.
In the case of Gambaryan, Krukrubo said that although the respondents had not yet replied, they had asked for a postponement of the deadline for submitting their applications. As a result, the judge postponed the decision until April 8.
