Alhaji Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser, has detained two executives of the Binance crypto exchange platform and confiscated their international passports, the Financial Times reported on Friday night.
The executives, whose identities were not immediately disclosed, were in Abuja on an invitation from the Nigerian government, the London paper said.
The meeting was expected to address outstanding issues between Binance and Nigeria, whose officials have tried publicly to blame the raging exchange rate crisis on online trading platforms. It was not immediately clear where in Abuja they were being held as of Friday night.
The government also sought disclosure of Nigerians on Binance, according to the paper. However, it was unclear what authority the government relied on to hold the foreign businessmen, and the detention could potentially escalate the administration’s desperation amid the scramble to contain the value of the national currency.
The company often relies on a warrant from Western authorities to disclose user data largely to advance a criminal investigation.
Mr Ribadu did not immediately return a request seeking comments from Peoples Gazette about the development. Binance spokespersons declined comments.
The development came a week after Nigeria compelled Binance to shut down its services to Nigerian users after the U.S. dollar traded at over N2,000 for the first time. The decision sparked outrage across the country, with online users threatening to explore other channels for crypto trading. Binance said it would continue to cooperate with Nigerian authorities.
Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians, mostly youths and youth-run businesses are believed to be regular users of Binance and other cryptocurrency platforms, although a former attorney-general, Abubakar Malami, erroneously revealed his crypto investments in 2022.