Binance crypto exec reportedly on the run after busting out of custody in Nigeria

• Nadeem Anjarwalla escaped police custody in Nigeria on Friday, Binance said.
• Binance's Africa manager reportedly fled the country after being taken to pray at a mosque.

A Binance executive is reportedly on the run after busting out of police custody in Nigeria on Friday.

Nadeem Anjarwalla, the cryptocurrency exchange's regional manager for Africa, escaped guards who had taken him to pray at a mosque in Abuja and then fled the country on a Middle-Eastern airline, Nigeria's Premium Times newspaper reported.

"We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody," a Binance representative told Business Insider on Monday. "Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue."

Nigerian officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI, but presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga told Bloomberg that Anjarwalla had escaped.

Authorities detained Anjarwalla and fellow Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan on a visit to Nigeria in February. They'd been held in a guarded house since then.

On Monday, Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service said it was charging Binance, Anjarwalla, and Gambaryan with tax evasion.

Chainalysis data shows that Nigeria has the world's second-highest crypto adoption rate. It has started cracking down on exchanges this year by ordering local telecoms companies to restrict access to Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken.

Officials are trying to shore up the naira, which has plunged 70% against the US dollar over the past year due to younger Nigerians in particulary choosing to store their money in alternative assets like bitcoin.

The naira's sharp devaluation has driven inflation up to 32%, per Nigeria's statistics bureau.