A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Tigran Gambaryan, a former Binance executive, who had challenged his 2024 detention by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

 

 

 

Delivering judgment on Thursday, November 27, presiding judge Mohammed Umar ruled that the suit amounted to an abuse of court process, holding that the NSA acted within its statutory powers and that “no court can restrain investigative agencies from carrying out their lawful duties.”

 

 

 

Gambaryan, who served as Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, filed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/356/2024 through his lawyer, Tonye Krukrubo. He alleged unlawful and prolonged detention and claimed that the government was using him “as leverage to continue making demands on Binance.” He told the court that he arrived in Nigeria on February 26, 2024, alongside colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla, to honour an invitation from the NSA and EFCC but was detained despite not being a director of the cryptocurrency firm. Anjarwalla later escaped custody and fled Nigeria.

 

 

 

Krukrubo had urged the court to declare his client’s detention between February 26 and 27, and again from March 12 to April 8, 2024, as unlawful, and to order an apology and damages. But lawyers representing the NSA and EFCC asked the court to dismiss the suit, describing it as an attempt to obstruct an ongoing criminal prosecution in case FHC/ABJ/CR/138/2024 before Justice Emeka Nwite, involving allegations of money laundering and foreign exchange violations against Binance Holdings Ltd.

 

 

 

EFCC counsel Olanrewaju Adeola argued that a valid remand order covered the detention period, noting that Gambaryan had already been arraigned before Nwite, who denied his bail application on the grounds that he posed a flight risk. Adeola maintained that the fundamental rights suit was an attempt to interfere with criminal proceedings.

 

 

 

In his ruling, Umar held that the court would not “interfere” with the investigative and prosecutorial powers of Nigerian authorities under the pretext of enforcing fundamental rights, particularly in matters involving alleged foreign exchange infractions and money laundering. The judge noted that Binance already faces pending criminal charges filed earlier in the year and that affidavits before the court showed the NSA acted based on intelligence reports of alleged illicit financial activities linked to the platform.

 

 

 

Umar added that while fundamental rights are constitutionally guaranteed, “they are not absolute and may be curtailed in circumstances involving national security or ongoing criminal investigations.” The suit was dismissed accordingly.