Abba Kyari Was My ‘Red’ In Kuje Prison – Binance Executive Shares Survival Story

An executive at Binance Holdings, Tigran Gambaryan, has revealed how he survived in Kuje prison while he was in detention.

Gambaryan, who was accused of money laundering and currency speculation by the federal government, detailed how former Deputy Police Commissioner Abba Kyari played a key role in his survival in Kuje Prison’s VIP wing.

Naija News reports that Gambaryan, alongside Binance Holdings Ltd was arraigned on April 8, 2024 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

They faced a five-count, including allegations of tax evasion, currency speculation, and money laundering totaling $34.4 million.

Speaking during an interview with American-based publication, Wired, Gambaryan lamented about the harsh conditions he endured in detention, first in solitary confinement under the EFCC and later in Kuje Prison, a facility notorious for its high-profile inmates, including accused Boko Haram terrorists.

Gambaryan said he was placed in Kuje Prison’s high-security segregation wing, a section designated for high-risk prisoners and VIP inmates who could afford special treatment.

His 6-by-10-foot VIP cell had a toilet, a metal bed frame, and what he described as a “glorified blanket” for a mattress, along with a single window with metal bars.

“Aside from the bed, this was actually an upgrade from the EFCC dungeon: He had sunlight and outside air—albeit polluted by a trash fire a couple hundred yards away—and a view of trees that swarmed with bats every evening,” the aforementioned publication reported.

Gambaryan told the news outlet that on his first night in prison, it rained, and a cool breeze came through the window.

“As bad as it was, I thought I was in heaven,” Gambaryan said.

Inmates In Kuje Prison Worked For Kyari

He said that in Kuje Prison’s VIP wing, he found himself surrounded by powerful inmates, including a cousin of Nigeria’s vice president, an alleged fraudster awaiting U.S. extradition, and Abba Kyari, former deputy police commissioner, who is himself under indictment in the U.S. for alleged corruption.

Gambaryan noted that Kyari commanded respect inside the prison, where other inmates worked for him, and even the guards deferred to him.

He added that Kyari’s wife brought in home-cooked food for everyone, including the guards.

Gambaryan noted that he liked a certain Northern Nigerian dumpling Kyari’s wife made, and she would cook extra for him.

In turn, he would share the takeout food his lawyers brought him from a fast-food restaurant; Kyari liked its Scotch eggs.

He also shared that his VIP prison neighbour helped him learn the unwritten rules of prison life: how to get a phone, how to avoid trouble from prison staff, and how to steer clear of violence from other inmates.

However, Gambaryan insists he never paid a bribe to the guards, adding that they sometimes demanded absurd amounts in the tens of thousands of dollars, but his closeness to Kyari protected him nonetheless.

“He was my Red,” Gambaryan said, comparing Kyari to Morgan Freeman’s character in The Shawshank Redemption. “He was instrumental to my survival.”