A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Tigran Gambaryan, a former Binance executive.
The suit challenged his 2024 detention by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Delivering judgment on Thursday, presiding judge Mohammed Umar ruled that the application amounted to an abuse of court process, stating that the NSA acted within its statutory mandate and that no court can stop investigative agencies from performing lawful duties.
Gambaryan, who previously served as Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, filed the matter — marked FHC/ABJ/CS/356/2024 — through his lawyer Tonye Krukrubo.
He alleged unlawful and prolonged detention, claiming authorities were using him “as leverage to continue making demands on Binance”.
He said he arrived in Nigeria on February 26, 2024, alongside colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla to honour an invitation from officials of the NSA and EFCC, but was held despite not being a director of the company.
Anjarwalla later escaped custody and fled the country.
Krukrubo urged the court to declare the detention periods — February 26 to 27; and March 12 to April 8, 2024 — unlawful, and to compel an apology and compensation.
However, counsel representing the NSA and EFCC asked the court to throw out the case, describing it as a strategy to obstruct an ongoing criminal trial, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/138/2024, involving alleged money laundering and foreign exchange breaches by Binance Holdings Ltd.
EFCC lawyer Olanrewaju Adeola argued that a valid remand order was in place during the detention period and that Gambaryan had already been formally charged before Justice Emeka Nwite, who denied him bail, noting he was a flight risk.
In the final ruling, Umar held that the court would not “interfere” with prosecutorial powers under the guise of rights enforcement, especially where investigations involve alleged foreign exchange violations and money laundering.
He added that while fundamental rights are protected, they are not without limits and may be restricted in situations concerning national security or active criminal probes.
The case was dismissed accordingly.