A Nigerian lawyer, Ilemona has described National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu as incompetent and called for drastic disciplinary action by President Bola Tinubu.
Ilemona, according to The Sun Newspaper, made the call in reaction to the purported escape of a detained senior executive of Binance, Nadeem Anjarwalla from NSA custody in Abuja last Friday.
Anjarwalla, 38, was one of the two Binance executives detained in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion and other offences.
However, on Friday, March 22, he escaped from the Abuja guest house where he was detained after the security guards on duty reportedly led him to a nearby mosque for Ramadan prayers. He was reported to have fled using a Middle Eastern airline. After he was arrested, his British passport was reportedly seized by the Federal Government.
But the Head, Strategic Communication of ONSA, Zakari Mijinyawa, said in a statement that Mr. Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan citizenship, fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport.
Mijinyawa said: “The Office of the National Security Adviser confirms that Nadeem Anjarwalla, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria escaped from lawful custody on Friday, 22 March 2024. Upon receiving this report, this office took immediate steps, in conjunction with relevant security agencies, MDAs, as well as the international community, to apprehend the suspect. Security agencies are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect.
Reacting to the development, Ilemona said: “How can we expect to be secure and safe in our country when the NSA cannot safeguard someone in his own custody?
“How do we track kidnappers and terrorists when the NSA cannot track a high-profile person he arrested and detained in “secure” facilities in the nation’s capital?
“How will the security architecture stop people from attacking us when it cannot stop someone the NSA detained from leaving the country through an airport in the capital city?
“Nothing tells the incompetence of the NSA explains the insecurity in Nigeria like this. He was directly in the custody of this detainee in a “secure” location. The detainee escaped and left the country and there were no triggers in the national security apparatus to stop him at any of the nations’ ports of exit. I don’t think there can be a bigger display of incompetence and ineptitude.”
As soon as news of his escape broke, Nigerians took to X (formerly twitter), coming down hard on the ONSA, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and other government apparatuses, describing them as incompetent. They also called for the sack of the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu.
Recall that FIRS’s legal action against Binance revolves around serious allegations, including the non-remittance of Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income Tax (CIT). Additionally, Binance is accused of failing to comply with tax return filing obligations and facilitating tax evasion for its users.
These accusations, if proven true, could have far-reaching implications for Binance’s operations in Nigeria and beyond.
