Report: AAX Users Storm Crypto Exchange’s Nigerian Offices, Attack Employees

Nigeria users of the crypto exchange AAX, which suspended withdrawals on Nov. 12, reportedly stormed its offices in Lagos and began assaulting employees. Reports that disgruntled AAX users have harassed the crypto exchange’s workers came just days after the Nigerian crypto and blockchain advocacy group asked to refrain from doing so. Meanwhile, the former vice president of AAX claimed in a tweet that the “brand is no more and trust is broken.”

According to a local report, a group of disgruntled Nigerian users of Atom Asset Exchange (AAX) recently stormed the crypto exchange’s offices in Lagos and assaulted employees. The angry mob reportedly demanded the lifting of a freeze on withdrawals, which came into effect on Nov. 12.

While the Dec. 2 report by Legit does not state when the incident occurred, it nonetheless corroborates an earlier plea made by the advocacy group the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN).In its Nov. 28 public notice, SIBAN urged AAX users to stop victimizing the beleaguered crypto exchange’s workers.

We appeal to and discourage any dissatisfied or angry user or investor from harassing or victimizing the AAX Country Manager (Nigeria), other local staff members, and AAX ambassadors nationwide. These persons are also facing the same situation as disgruntled users and investors are.

The advocacy group also revealed that the Hong-Kong headquartered crypto exchange’s senior executives had stopped communicating with their Nigeria-based workers.

Meanwhile, in a message aimed at AAX and its founders, the advocacy group reminded the crypto exchange of its obligations towards users. In addition, the notice suggested some steps that AAX and Nigerian workers must take to restore the public’s trust.

“If protecting users is AAX’s highest priority as it boasts in its public announcement, AAX should immediately take steps to close the gaps by bridging communication between itself and its local staff in Nigeria on the one hand, and between AAX and its Nigerian users on the other hand,” SIBAN’s public notice said.

In its last update (Nov. 18), AAX told users that there had been “many new developments” which meant it required “more time to respond to the overwhelming amount of questions in the community.” At the time, AAX said it would issue more updates via the official channel for public announcements and updates. However, the crypto exchange had not issued fresh updates at the time of writing (Dec. 3, 11:00 am EST).

Dear all, it’s true I have resigned from AAX. I did fight for the community but none of the initiatives we came up with were accepted. Any role I had left for communication became hollow.

1/4

— ₿en Caselin HODL (@BenCaselin) November 28, 2022

The sudden resignation of the crypto platform’s vice president Ben Caselin and his claims that the “brand is no more and trust is broken” have fueled speculation that the crypto exchange might not resume operations any time soon.

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