- By Halimah Olamide
Anjarwalla is in another sovereign nation and Kenya, where he is believed to be hiding, is a member of INTERPOL 196 countries
The International Criminal Police Organisation for Africa has announced that the international police is working to ensure that one of the executives of a global crypto-currency firm, Binance, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who escaped from Nigeria in March is extradited to Nigeria to answer for his alleged crime.
Vice president for the Africa INTERPOL executive committee, AIG Garba Baba Umar (rtd), disclosed this on Tuesday, adding that it is currently engaging with the Kenyan government by presenting the relevant treaties, Memorandum of Understanding and other documents to convince the Kenyan government to release and send Anjarwalla back to Nigeria to face his trial.
He said, “Anjarwalla is in another sovereign nation and Kenya, where he is believed to be hiding, is a member of INTERPOL 196 countries. There is a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under the international police cooperation that when a person commits a crime and runs into any member country, you ensure the person is brought back to justice.
“We are getting all the other documents to process and place him under warranty of arrest and on red alert. Even if he is hiding in Kenya or anywhere in the world, the INTERPOL will apprehend him and hand him over to the appropriate authority looking for him. That is the work of the INTERPOL. It ensures that fugitives who escape are arrested and brought to justice in the country where they are needed.”
He vowed that with what is currently going on, one day, Anjarwalla will be brought back to face justice.
Anjarwalla, who was being held alongside his colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, for money laundering and tax evasion, fled the custody of the National Security Adviser on March 22 and escaped to Kenya.
Recall the Federal Government said the activities of Binance, a cryptocurrency platform, were hurting the Nigerian currency, naira, leading to its free fall against the US dollar and other currencies.
The 38-year-old Briton-Kenyan was said to have escaped when security men guarding him led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the Ramadan fast.
He was, however, said to have been arrested last week in Kenya.
Speaking on the relationship between Nigeria and Kenya in terms of extradition, especially with Nnamdi Kanu, Umar said INTERPOL was never involved in bringing back Kanu from Kenya.