In the midst of a crackdown on its operations in the country, Binance has revealed significant work it has conducted in helping to train local law enforcement to deal with crypto crimes.
In light of recent events, we would like to showcase our dedication to promoting the responsible growth of crypto in Nigeria with some facts and numbers.
We will continue to work with Nigerian authorities to bring our friends and colleagues home.
They are professionals with the… pic.twitter.com/qSNNfxJIVx
— Binance (@binance) March 13, 2024
Binance has been under increasing pressure in Nigeria, which saw it end all services involving the Naira as the government accuses it of enabling price manipulation.
🇳🇬REGULATION | Binance Discontinues All Naira Services Starting in March 2024
Naira deposits ceased after March 5 2024 with withdrawals stopping on March 8 2024.
Authorities have alleged that Binance benefited from ‘illegal transactions’ to the value of $26 billion.… pic.twitter.com/jKZ90I70ie
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) March 7, 2024
Prior to that, local authorities detained two Binance officials as soon as they entered Nigeria as part of the investigations process.
According to reports, Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s Head of Financial-Crime Compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a U.K. and Kenyan national and Binance’s Regional Manager for Africa, were being held in a guarded house with restrictions, such as how many times they can speak to their families.
The company however disputes the negative identity that has been cast onto it by local authorities, and has showcased the positive activities they have done in Nigeria.
“Even though Nigeria is not yet one of Binance’s top markets, we believe it holds extraordinary potential and we hope to continue to invest there,” Binance said.
In December 2023, the company sent its leading cryptocurrency crime experts to assist law enforcement authorities in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa in dealing with cyber crimes related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain. However, at that point, the training activities were already ongoing.
🇿🇦🇳🇬CRYPTO EXCHANGE | #Binance Sends Top Financial Crime Experts to Conduct Inaugural Law Enforcement Training in Africa
Nils Andersen Röed and Jarek Jakubcek, who formerly worked as investigators at Europol, were recently in South Africa and Nigeria to train local regulators… pic.twitter.com/7uIUBrAtSF
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) December 4, 2023
For example, in August 2023, as reported by BitKE, Binance conducted two entire-day meetings with representatives from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in both Abuja and Lagos. Each session was attended by over 30 investigators, the firm said.
Commenting on the training received by @Binance which was covered by @BitcoinKE, Wodi, DETECTIVE superintendent and Cybercrime and Crypto Currency investigator at EFCC Nigeria, said
"Jarek Jakubcek training in Nigeria was insightful. He brought out the flesh of crypto… https://t.co/A5fSWq7ENr
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) December 14, 2023
The training emphasized teaching investigators how to track funds on the blockchain utilizing both publicly available and commercial tools.
“We also introduced several case studies, including those featuring Nigerian suspects. Both sessions received overwhelmingly positive feedback from Nigerian investigators, who expressed strong interest in continuing this format of cooperation,” Binance said.
Between June 2020 and February 2024, Binance reportedly addressed 626 information requests from Nigerian law enforcement agencies, with an average response time of 37.4 hours. These requests supported investigations by entities such as the Nigeria Police Force, EFCC, and INTERPOL Nigeria.
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