Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive who is currently incarcerated, has filed a lawsuit against the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu for allegedly violating his fundamental rights.

In the initial application, dated March 18, and submitted by his attorney, Olujoke Aliyu of the Aluko and Oyebode Law Firm, Gambaryan requested five reliefs from Justice Inyang Ekwo. Additionally, on March 22, Nadeem Anjarwalla, the regional manager for Binance in Africa, broke out from legal custody and launched a second rights enforcement lawsuit before Justice Ekwo.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Gambaryan and Anjarwalla sued the Office of NSA (ONSA) and the EFCC as first and second respondents in the cases with the filing numbers FHC/ABJ/CS/356/24 and FHC/ABJ/CS/355/24.

They both wanted the same relief.

In his case, Gambaryan, a US citizen in charge of financial crime compliance at the cryptocurrency exchange platform, requested a declaration that his arrest and the confiscation of his passport for foreign travel violated Sections 35 (1) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). He claimed that the action amounted to a breach of his constitutionally protected basic right to personal liberty.  In addition, he requested a court order directing the respondents to immediately free him from detention and return his passport for foreign travel.

In addition, Gambaryan requested a permanent injunction prohibiting the respondents and their representatives from holding him any longer in connection with any inquiries made to Binance. 

In addition to requesting a public apology from the respondents, the official asked for full indemnification for the costs incurred in this case.

In a statement in support of the lawsuit, he identified himself as an American citizen who, on February 26, traveled to Nigeria in company with Nadeem Anjarwalla to accept the invitation of the ONSA and EFCC to talk about matters about Binance in Nigeria.

He provided an eleven-point justification for the approval of his application, stating that he and his colleague Anjarwalla had faithfully attended the meeting.

He said that the responders had taken the two of them into custody following the meeting and that they had stayed there ever since.

He added that neither during the meeting nor at any other time was he directly told in writing of any offenses he had committed in Nigeria. "It means that the applicant has no legal representation and requires that the matter be adjourned for the applicant to seek legal representation and for the respondents to be allowed to come to court," stated Utice Ekwo after they withdrew their legal representation.

The judge postponed the decision until April 8 to provide more time.  Additionally, upon resuming the hearing in Gambaryan's lawsuit, Krukrubo stated that even though ONSA and the EFCC had received the process, they still had time to reply.  He consequently requested a postponement, stating that the respondent's window of opportunity to submit their petitions would close on Thursday of next week.

As a result, Justice Ekwo postponed the case to April 8 to allow for more discussion.