LEADER of the banned militant group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, has been imprisoned in Finland along with four others over charges of alleged terrorist activities.
Local news in Finland reports that the District Court of Päijät-Häme ordered Ekpa, a Lahti-based Nigerian municipal politician, to be detained on probable cause, and on suspicion of inciting people to commit crimes with terrorist intent.
The court accuses Simon Ekpa of spreading separatist propaganda on social media. The suspected crime occurred on 23 August 2021, and the location was Lahti.
Apart from Ekpa, the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation also ordered the arrest of four other men on suspicion of terrorist offences.
Ekpa, who is a Finnish citizen born in 1985, has openly stated that he leads a separatist group operating in Nigeria, with the aim of creating an independent Biafran state in the southeast of the country.
Police suspect that Ekpa has been promoting his activities from Finland, which led to violence against civilians and security forces, as well as other crimes in Southeast Nigeria.
Detective Chief Inspector Otto Hiltunen of the National Bureau of Investigation said “Ekpa carries out these activities through his social media channels.”
In one video he recorded during the 2023 general elections, Simon Ekpa sat in front of a computer in his Lahti kitchen, declaring that elections would not take place in the Biafra region and that everyone there must boycott. He also endorsed the use of violence.
“I support violence against Nigerian government forces. It’s a matter of self-defence. They are always attacking us and have committed numerous war crimes. We are forced to defend ourselves,” he said.
The video garnered about 800,000 views on X (formerly Twitter).
The police said the demand for Ekpa’s arrest is related to a pre-trial investigation into his suspected public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation issued a press statement requesting the arrest of one person on suspicion of inciting terrorist acts, and four others on suspicion of financing terrorist activities. All five suspects were arrested at the start of the week.
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While Ekpa resides in Lahti, two of the other suspects live in Helsinki, and one does not have any address listed in the population register, according to authorities. They added that international cooperation was involved in the criminal investigation.