The nearly eight-month detention of an American Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, in Abuja in 2024 has been cited by Washington as a cautionary example for US business travellers to Nigeria.
In its 2026 Nigeria Investment Climate Statement, the US Department of State warned that executives of American companies could face arrest, exit bans or travel restrictions over disputes involving their employers.
The State Department said what would normally be routine business visits could turn into detention scenarios when a company is under investigation for tax, regulatory or commercial issues.
According to the report, Nigerian authorities use immigration tools such as watchlists to exert pressure on multinationals. This, it alleged, is deployed to force settlements, extract financial concessions or obtain data.
It added, “U.S. businesses are advised that standard business trips can escalate into detention if the firm is under regulatory suspicion or faces charges by Nigerian authorities.”
In a separate quote, the report stated that Nigeria “has previously employed coercive exit bans and arbitrary detention as leverage in commercial or regulatory disputes.”
Gambaryan, a former US IRS agent, was detained alongside a colleague in February 2024 after honouring an invitation for a meeting with regulators. He was held at Kuje prison on money laundering charges which were later dropped.
The 2026 statement also noted that insecurity in the North, oil theft in the Niger Delta, corruption and port inefficiencies continue to affect investor confidence.
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