United States diplomats from the State Department have been privately pressuring Nigerian officials to release detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan since at least June 2024, a new report from The New York Times revealed.
According to the outlet, Gambaryan’s imprisonment has been a “significant factor” in the strained relationship between the two countries. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and United States Ambassador to Nigeria Richard Mills have been pressing the issue with Nigerian officials.
Ambassador Mills met with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cabinet in September 2024 to discuss the issue further and push for Gambaryan’s release, which Nigeria’s attorney General maintains will only happen after a trial.
Attorneys for Gambaryan also implored the US State Department to label Gambaryan as “wrongfully detained” to further political pressure on Nigeria to release the detained executive—a move that US State Department officials say is not out of the question.
Detainment of Gambaryan to become a geopolitical issue?
The United States State Department's potential strategy of labeling the executive as "wrongfully detained" has been suggested by at least one US lawmaker.
A portion of Rep. McCormick’s resolution. Source: US Congress.
In July, Rep. Rich McCormick introduced a resolution to Congress calling for the labeling of Gambaryan’s detention as a "hostage" situation. At the time, Rep. McCormick claimed that the Nigerian government was holding Gambaryan without cause to extort the cryptocurrency exchange for money.
Related: Binance CEO calls Gambaryan’s treatment ‘inhuman’ as disturbing new video emerges
Gambaryan should be released on humanitarian grounds
Diplomatic officials from the United States labeled the detainment of Gambaryan as a humanitarian issue—citing Gambaryan's deteriorating health as the main factor for his release.
On Sept. 2, 2024, attorneys for the detained Binance executive filed a new bail motion, arguing that their client needed to be released to seek medical attention.
Gambaryan’s rapidly declining health has been well-documented and includes a herniated disc in his back that requires specialized surgery, multiple bouts of pneumonia, malaria, and throat infections.
Nigerian prison officials also came under fire for their general neglect of Gambaryan. This lack of attention reached a crescendo in July when an arrest warrant was issued for Dr. Abraham Ehizojie, a medical doctor at the Kuje prison facility, for failure to appear in court or produce a mandatory medical report for Gambaryan.
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