*Seizes passports of US, UK citizens linked to the Crypto trading site
The Department of State Security have detained at least two Binance employees last Monday night, in Abuja over investigations on the crypto platform’s operations in the country.
Consequently, the international passports of two Binance executives, an American and a British citizen were seized.
According to the Financial Times, the executives flew into Nigeria following the country’s decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites last week, but they were detained and their passports seized,
Government however, did not provide details on why the Binance employees are being detained, and it remains unclear on whether or not they have been charged with violations of any Nigerian law.
The incident comes as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ordered internet service providers to block access to Binance, Kraken, Coinbase and other crypto exchange websites.
The action came after Binance and other crypto exchange firms were accused of aiding and abetting currency speculation and forex market manipulation by several Nigeria government agencies.
The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, on Tuesday, said there were indications of illicit flow of funds through platforms like Binance.
“In the case of Binance, in the last one year alone, $26 billion has passed through ‘Binance Nigeria’ from sources and users who we cannot adequately identify,” Cardoso said at a press conference.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, on February 21, 2024, said Binance and other cryptocurrency platforms should be banned from operating in the country
He said Binance is “blatantly setting exchange rate for Nigeria,” and hijacking the role of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The special adviser called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the CBN to move against the platforms, adding that the firms are trying to “manipulate our national currency to ground zero”.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have taken to the social media platform X to condemn the action, saying it will chase investors away.
