Two U.S. lawmakers have urged the U.S. embassy in Nigeria to intervene and secure the release of Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive.
The legislators emphasized humanitarian reasons, citing Gambaryan’s poor health. He has been detained since February on money laundering charges, while tax evasion charges against him and another official who left Nigeria in March were dropped last week.
The U.S. House Representatives French Hill, a Republican, and Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat, visited Gambaryan in Abuja’s Kuje prison on Thursday during their trip to the West African country.
Nigeria attributed its currency woes, exacerbated by chronic dollar shortages and a record depreciation of its currency, to Binance and other cryptocurrency platforms. These websites emerged as favored options for trading the Nigerian naira amidst the economic challenges faced by the country.
