The Nigerian government says claims by U.S. lawmakers that detained Binance official, Tigran Gambaryan, is denied access to adequate medical care is “false.”
“It has become necessary for the Federal Government of Nigeria to address claims that Binance Executive, Tigran Gambaryan is being held in unsavoury prison conditions in Nigeria, or that his health is deteriorating,” Nigerian minister of information, Mohammed Idris said.
“We would like to state that these allegations are false and should be ignored.”
Mr Idris, in a statement on Friday, shortly after twoq U.S. lawmakers, French Hill and Chrissy Houlahan, who visited Mr Gambaryan in Kuje Prison, accused President Bola Tinubu’s government of denying Mr Gambaryan access to good medical care, said Mr “Gambaryan is being held in lawful detention and has access to quality medical care whenever required.”
He added that the detained Binance employee “also has full access to consular services from his home government.
“The Federal Government will not do anything to jeopardize his fundamental rights to lawful trial, and to quality care, including healthcare, even as he undergoes trial by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Earlier on Thursday, after visiting Mr Gambaryan in Kuje Prison, the duo of Mr Hill and Mrs Houlahan, in a post on X said, they “found Gambaryan “suffering from malaria and double pneumonia” and he’s being denied access to adequate medical attention.”
Mr Hill, in the video he posted alongside his comment on X, said Mr Gambaryan, who has spent over 100 days in Nigerian detention, falls in the category of Americans held hostage in other countries.
“We have a task force in Congress that is on Americans wrongfully detained abroad, or held hostage. Clearly in our view, Tigran fits in that camp. We want him home and we can let Binance, his employer, deal with the Nigerians,” Mr Hill said.
U.S lawmakers’ visit to Kuje Prison to see Mr Gambaryan comes days after sixteen U.S. lawmakers wrote Mr Biden asking him to intervene for the release of Mr Gambaryan, arguing that charges against him by Nigerian authorities were baseless and constituted a coercion tactic by the Tinubu government to extort Binance.
Mr Gambaryan has been in detention since February 26, when he and Nadeem Anjarwalla visited Nigeria on Nigerian Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu’s invitation.
