On Monday night, Feb. 26, Nigeria’s Department of State Security detained at least two Binance executives in Abuja as part of an inquiry into the cryptocurrency exchange’s operations in the nation.
Authorities have confiscated the passports of two Binance executives, one American and one British citizen.
According to the Financial Times, the executives rushed to Nigeria following the country’s decision to ban multiple cryptocurrency trading websites last week, but they were detained and their passports were confiscated.
Officials did not explain why the Binance workers are being held, and it is unknown whether they have been charged with any infractions of Nigerian law.
The incident comes as the Nigerian Communications Commission ordered internet service providers to block access to Binance, Kraken, Coinbase and other crypto exchange websites. That action came after Binance and other crypto exchanges were accused of aiding and abetting currency speculation and forex market manipulation from several segments of Nigeria’s government.
Nigeria’s central bank governor Olayemi Cardoso on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 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.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have taken to the social media platform X to say that this action by Nigerian authorities would chase investors away.
