The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by Tigran Gambaryan, former Binance Head of Financial Crime Compliance in Nigeria, against the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Gambaryan, through his lawyer, had sued the NSA and EFCC over alleged unlawful and prolonged detention.
Delivering Judgement, Justice Mohammed Umar, held that the Binance agent’s fundamental rights enforcement suit constituted an abuse of court process.
Justice Umar held that the NSA had acted within his mandate under the law and that no court had the power to stop the investigative powers of the police or EFCC.
The judge, who said that Gambaryan provided no evidence to show he enjoyed immunity from prosecution in Nigeria or under Nigerian law, consequently dismissed the suit.
Gambaryan alongside his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained at the NSA’s office in connection with the money laundering and foreign exchange contravention allegations against Binance Holdings Ltd.
However, Anjarwalla escaped from lawful custody and fled the country early 2024.
But Gambaryan, in the suit filed by his lawyer, Tonye Krukrubo, SAN, sought the enforcement of his fundamental right.
Krukrubo had prayed the court to compel the NSA and EFCC to apologise for his client’s detention in the country.
The lawyer, in the affidavit attached to the suit, had alleged that the Federal Government was using Gambaryan’s prolonged detention “as leverage to continue making demands on Binance.”
He further informed the court that his client, an American citizen, visited Nigeria on Feb. 26, 2024, alongside Anjarwalla, solely to honour an invitation from Mr Saad Abubakar of the NSA and Mr Olalekan Ogunjobi of the EFCC for a meeting with government officials as representatives of Binance.
He added that after honouring the invitation, his client, who is not a board member of Binance, was detained.