The Office of the National Security Adviser has announced the arrest of the personnel responsible for the custody of Nadeem Anjarwalla, the Binance Executive who escaped from lawful custody.
The development was made known in a statement released by the Head of Strategic Communication at the Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, stating that efforts are ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention.
According to the statement, “The Office of the National Security Adviser confirms that Nadeem Anjarwalla, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria, has escaped from lawful custody on Friday, 22 March 2024.
“Upon receiving this report, this office took immediate steps, in conjunction with relevant security agencies, MDAs, as well as the international community, to apprehend the suspect. Security agencies are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect.”
The statement also revealed that preliminary investigations indicated that Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport.
Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan nationalities and serves as Binance’s Africa regional manager, was being tried by Nigerian courts for his alleged involvement in money laundering and terrorism financing transactions on the Binance currency exchange platform. The suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a court in Nigeria and was scheduled to appear before the court again on 4 April 2024.
The Office of the National Security Adviser urged the Nigerian public and the international community to provide any information that could assist law enforcement agencies in apprehending the suspect.
