DSS ex-director upbraids security in Binance manager’s dramatic escape from custody

A former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has alleged that the fleeing Binance executive Nadeem Anjarwalla may have “rubbed hands” with some conniving security agents to escape from custody.

Amachree made this claim in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday.

He said, “Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla has rubbed hands with some security agents who facilitated his escape. I am happy they have arrested some of them, they should tell us exactly what happened.”

The security expert said the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) should have transferred Anjarwalla to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the secret police for custody.

According to him, the suspect and his colleague at the cryptocurrency exchange platform, Tigran Gambaryan, should have been placed on watch-list when they were detained in Abuja late February.

He added that Anjarwalla and Gambaryan should have been placed on watchlist with the Nigeria Immigration Service and their photos and names flagged at all airports across the country.

Amachree added: “If the man has been flagged as a threat or a suspected person, he should have been watchlisted.

“I don’t know whether the NSA has a detention facility. The NSA is an advisory body to the President. So, if he (NSA Nuhu Ribadu) felt that the suspects should be remanded, he should have sent him to the EFCC or the DSS to keep until the date of the court but to keep him in a guest house where he has access to telephone?

“For them to allow him to go and pray? I think there are a lot of loopholes and lapses there. We have held heads of State in detention.

“So, I don’t see why this particular guy will be allowed to go to the nearest mosque to pray and disappeared. There is a compromise,” he said.

The NSA office said Anjarwalla escaped from custody when he observed a Jumat prayer last Friday, March 22, 2024, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

“Preliminary investigation shows that Mr Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport,” it said.

“The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention.”

Until his escape, Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan citizenship and serves as Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, was facing trial in the courts.