Yuki, wife of the detained Binance Holdings Limited executive, Tigran Gambaryan, has described the 65 days her husband has spent in custody as the longest in their lives.

Gambaryan and another Executive of the company, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained on February 26 following an investigation into Binance’s activities in Nigeria.

Yuki, represented by her congressman, Rich McCormick, spoke at the House Foreign Affairs Committee roundtable on Americans detained abroad on Tuesday.

Yuki accused the Nigerian government of luring her husband to the country and detaining Gambaryan without initially charging him with any crime.

Gambaryan’s wife stated that although she couldn’t speak on behalf of the company, she stressed that the charges against her husband were completely unfounded.

She said, ” My husband and the father of our two young children, Tigrin, has been in Nigerian custody for 65 days, the longest two months of our lives. On February 25, he landed in Abuja at the Nigerian government’s request for a financial compliance policy. This is what Tigran does. He helps countries navigate the notoriously prickly world of finance, crime, and compliance.

“He spends his days investigating and pursuing criminal activity on the cryptocurrency platform of Binance, his employer. However, 24 hours after his arrival, he was arrested and detained without charge or explanation.

“It took over two weeks for the Nigerian government to fabricate tax-related charges against Tigran and finance. I cannot speak for his employer, but the charges against Tigran are utterly baseless.

“He was lured into the country under false pretences, only to be arrested due to some allegations against his employer.”

Yuki also lamented that her husband was being kept at the Kuje correctional centre where terrorists were being held.

“Today, my husband sits in the notorious Kuje prison, a place that has held Militants from Islamic State and Boko Haram,” she said.

Gambaryan’s wife accused the Nigerian Government of using her husband as a bargaining chip, a situation she described as devastating.

She said, “Ironically, Tigran spent more than a decade as a special agent for the United States General Revolution Revenue Service, investigating issues of national security, terrorist financing, identity theft, distribution of tile pornography, tax evasion and more.

“To see my husband, who is by nature a person of goodwill and strong moral character, be used as a bargaining chip by the Nigerian government is devastating.”

She therefore called on the United States of America government to stop being passive in the matter involving its citizens.

Yuki said, “The United States cannot afford to remain passive while its citizens suffer tremendously in the name of geopolitical gamesmanship.”

Anjarwalla on March 23 escaped from safe custody and fled the country.

Gambaryan alongside Binance were subsequently arraigned by the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on tax evasion and money laundering charges respectively.

The Federal Government has resumed operations on the Port-Harcourt-Aba railway following the completion of its rehabilitation, which forms part of the ongoing work at the 1443km Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge rail project.

The resumption of the Port Harcourt-Aba rail operations is part of the intensified drive by the Federal Government to facilitate trade, enhance mobility, accessibility and ensure connectivity between the southern parts of the country to the North-Eastern part.

Inaugurating operations on the rehabilitated 62km rail corridor on Tuesday, the Minister of Transportation, Sen. Said Alkali, said his Ministry was in discussions with an investor on retrofitting locomotives from diesel to CNG to further bring down the cost of transportation.

Alkali, who took a train ride from Port Harcourt to Aba, said it signalled the commencement of passenger train services along the corridor.

He said the corridor would be linked to Enugu and connected to the Onne and Port Harcourt ports to stimulate commerce.

He said: “We give God the glory that we are here to commission the train service from Port Harcourt to Aba.

“And to thank the Commander-in-Chief, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support and commitment to the Ministry of Transportation out of his desire to bring succour to the people of this great country.

“The Eastern narrow gauge covers five geopolitical zones of the country. It covers South South, South East, North Central, North West and North East.

“So, it means a lot to the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I am happy that today one segment is being put to use, and this is the first presence of the Railway Corporation in the South-South.

“So, we are prepared, we are going to ride on the train from Port Harcourt to Aba, and from today, the passenger train will commence.

“By the grace of God Almighty, from Aba, we are going to proceed to Enugu, and from Port Harcourt to Onne Port and Port Harcourt Port so that we will be able to put freight service in the haulage.

“The ministry is considering a lot of things, as we speak, we have engaged an investor on retrofitting our locomotive from diesel to CNG to further bring down the cost of transportation.”

The 144 km Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri narrow gauge rail rehabilitation project was awarded by the Federal Ministry of Transportation to China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) on October 16, 2020, with a completion timeline of 36 months.

The Tinubu’s administration continued with the project, which commenced in March 2022 and ensured that the Port Harcourt to Aba corridor was completed.

Alkali noted that the scope of the project covered the rehabilitation of the existing narrow gauge railway line, the construction of new modern stations, and the procurement of new modern rolling stock.

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission has denied allegation of shooting at pro-Yahaya Bello protesters at its headquarters on Monday in Abuja.

Spokesman for the commission, Dele Oyewale, said this while responding to reports that the commission’s operatives attacked the protesters

Mr Oyewale said that there was no shooting at any protester at the commission on Monday.

He said the operatives only dispersed the protesters who went to the commission’s headquarters to disrupt activities.

”No arrests were made as claimed by the group. No two groups demonstrated at the commission today. The first group came with a letter of commendation in support of the EFCC anti-corruption fight.

”They presented their letter, which was received by the Director of Public Enlightenment Department, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, who promised to deliver their message to the chairman. Not quite after, another group came, these people were violent and destructive, the men of the commission had to chase them away. It is not true, nobody was arrested and there was no shootout,” he said.

The pro-Yahaya Bello group is supporting the immediate past governor of Kogi State who is in hiding to evade prosecution by the EFCC over alleged corruption.

The pro-Bello protest was staged by the Kogi Youth Coalition.

The protesters claimed they were attacked by operatives of the commission. The group claimed that the first group of protesters were allowed into the commission but the pro- Yahaya Bello group were denied entry.

Videos of the protesters struggling to make their statements while being harassed and scampering for safety flooded the social media with a picture of a badly damaged vehicle.

The group claimed that at least 10 of the members were arrested while many were injured. They said they staged the protest to counter what they described as an EFCC-sponsored protest and vowed to resist the intimidation, and urged President Bola Tinubu to call EFCC to order.

The Head of the Kogi Youth Coalition, Otitoleke Richard, while speaking on the attack said, “We’re here this morning at the headquarters of EFCC in Abuja, addressing a topical national issue that has to do with the rule of law, the defence of democratic governance in Nigeria.

“We have been intimidated, we have been harassed. The EFCC is saying we do not have the right to express our opinion on national issues. We have been shot at; they have used their sticks to beat ordinary Nigerians that are harmless. We shall continue to air our opinion for democracy to thrive in Nigeria. Nigeria is not a banana republic. We’re saying the rule of law must be applied in all corruption files. You cannot fight corruption with lawlessness.”

A protester, identified only as Malik, said it was unfortunate that peaceful protests that were a right of every Nigerian had now been made selective by the commission.

“Why didn’t they attempt to disperse those Igala boys that protested against the former governor, can you imagine? EFCC sponsoring Muri Ajaka’s boys to support them and call Yahaya Bello out? Nigerians should not be fooled to think anybody is fighting any corruption. They just want him out. Period. But we are saying they can’t disgrace him. He has done more than any governor for us in Kogi and all these people know. This will not make us afraid of asking for our rights. We will continue,” he said.

(NAN)