Pressure mounts on Tinubu, Biden to release Binance’s Tigran Gambaryan

U.S. lawmakers have intensified pressure on Presidents Joe Biden and Bola Tinubu to secure the release of Tigran Gambaryan, a detained Binance official, as members of Congress press the White House to mobilise every available resource to facilitate Mr Gambaryan’s freedom.

Members of  U.S. Congress, Rich McCormick and French Hill, on July 10, introduced a resolution to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, calling for Mr Gambaryan’s immediate release.

The resolution, published on the U.S. Congress website, stated, “The government of Nigeria must immediately release Tigran Gambaryan from imprisonment.”

It urged the U.S. government “to utilise all resources available to secure the release of Tigran Gambaryan and to raise his case in all interactions with the Government of Nigeria, pressing for his immediate release.”

Additionally, the U.S. lawmakers demanded that the U.S. government “formally declare Tigran Gambaryan a ‘US citizen wrongfully detained by a foreign government’ pursuant to Section 302(a) of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741(a)).”

Meanwhile, Yuki Gambaryan, the wife of the detained Binance official, has expressed grave concern over her husband’s worsening health.

“I am deeply concerned about my husband’s declining health. I appreciate Congressional focus on obtaining Tigran’s immediate release from custody in Nigeria and Representative McCormick’s continued attention to Tigran’s plight. I hope the US government’s involvement will expedite the process of getting him released,” Mrs Gambaryan said in a statement on Friday.

Mr Gambaryan and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla were detained on February 26 after visiting Nigeria on an official invitation from National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.

The Nigerian authorities accused Binance of aiding currency speculators to undermine the Nigerian naira.

While Mr Anjarwalla escaped detention and fled the country in March, Mr Gambaryan remains in custody despite his deteriorating health.