Nigeria Accuses Binance of Facilitating Terrorism and Kidnapping Financing

Prior to the Nigerian government's crackdown on Binance, kidnapping gangs and terrorists funneled illicit funds through the cryptocurrency exchange.

The Nigerian government has accused Binance of facilitating terrorism and kidnapping in the country.

In remarks delivered at a recent program in Abuja, the minister of information and national orientation stated that the government was forced to take action against Binance after it discovered that the cryptocurrency exchange was being used by terrorists and kidnappers to transfer illicit funds.

“If you see a flow of finance between somebody who is purportedly doing financial transactions in your land and then people who are engaged in acts of destabilization, certainly this will be of interest,” the minister was quoted by Semafor as saying.

The minister’s comments come after he shot down claims that the government was extorting the cryptocurrency exchange.

Earlier reports by Semafor had stated that U.S. officials were informed about the possibility of the Nigerian government officials blackmailing Binance into paying a $150 million bribe to avoid arrest and detention.

The report added that the officials were also told that the government was holding Binance responsible for the depreciation of the local currency.

However, in his remarks, Idris said Binance contributed to the naira’s decline.

“They brought in crypto and at the beginning, people were boasting about it, but later they realized the implication of crypto in terms of money laundering, tax evasion and the destabilization of the economy. When the government decided to take action, they said the government was trying to extort money from Binance.”

Earlier this year, the Nigerian government sued Binance for $81 billion in a lawsuit filed in a federal high court in the capital, Abuja.

The lawsuit, which was reported by Bloomberg, names Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao as defendants in the suit.

The suit includes charges of money laundering and tax evasion against Binance, which operates one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

The lawsuit arose after the government took several measures targeting Binance, including detaining the crypto exchange’s security head Tigran Gambaryan.

The detention of the Binance executive, who was later released for health reasons, sparked a dispute that threatened U.S.-Nigeria relations.

However, after Gambaryan repeated the bribery claims during an interview with a U.S. publication, the government accused the Binance employee of lying.

A few days later, Binance was served with the billion-dollar lawsuit.

The latest allegation, linking Binance to terrorism and kidnapping, adds to its growing legal woes in a country with Africa’s largest crypto market.