According to a report by the Financial Times on Tuesday, Nigeria has requested that Binance provide details about its top 100 users in the nation as well as the whole transaction history for the last six months.
The demand is made as the third week of Binance’s compliance chief and Africa region manager’s incarceration in Nigeria approaches.
After travelling to Abuja on February 25 at the request of the Nigerian government, Binance’s Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla have been detained against their will at a “guesthouse” operated by the National Security Agency of Nigeria. The executives’ names had not been released with the news of their incarceration by February 29. On Tuesday, the titles and identities were revealed.
There is a disagreement between Binance and the Nigerian authorities regarding approximately $26 billion in untraceable cash.
The Financial Times reports that Nigeria views Binance as a key player undermining government efforts to stabilise the naira. Furthermore, Nigeria requests that Binance settle any unpaid tax obligations. The naira was taken off Binance’s website for trading.
The FT stated that Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were being kept “simply as hostages,” citing “one person briefed on the situation.” Neither has been charged with a crime. They were receiving good treatment, the individual added.
A representative for Binance said that “we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to bring Nadeem and Tigran back home to their families” during the course of the past 24hours. The FT referenced a court ruling permitting the executives of Binance to be detained for 14 days, which concluded on Tuesday. A hearing to extend the order is set for Wednesday.