Biafran “Prime Minister,” Ekpa to serve 6 year prison term for terrorism
A court in Finland has found the separatist Biafran leader, Simon Ekpa guilty of terrorism charges and has sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment.
According to YLE, a Finnish newspaper, the court ruled that the self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), used his significant social media handles following to Stoke tensions in Nigeria’s South East region between August 2021 and November 2024.
The three-member panel of judges in a unanimous ruling also stated that Ekpa was an influential member of a militant separatist movement whose goal was to actualise the formation of a Biafran state from Nigeria.
The district court also noted that Ekpa had supplied certain groups with weapons, explosives and ammunition through his network of contacts in the region. He was also said to have encouraged his followers to commit crimes in Nigeria.
The court also convicted him of aggravated tax fraud and violating the provisions of the Attorneys Act.
Ekpa who parades himself as the Prime Minister of the Biafran Republic in exile was arrested in Lahti, Finland in November 2024.
He was accused of using social media platforms to incite violence against civilians and authorities in Nigeria’s South East region, known for its historical agitation for the independence of the area.
The Nigerian government had also accused Ekpa of coordinating violent attacks, including attacks on security operatives and enforcing disruptive sit-at-home orders in the South East.
During the period, Ekpa alongside four others, was detained for allegedly financing such activities. His assets as well as those of his associates were frozen.
Ekpa’s case drew international attention after Nigeria formally petitioned Finland to restrain his activities accusing him of destabilising the South East from abroad.
The Finnish government under growing diplomatic pressure launched an investigation in 2023.
The judgement marks one of the strongest actions yet by a European court against a foreign-based separatist agitator accused of fuelling unrest in Africa.
While Ekpa’s lawyers have indicated plans to appeal, Nigerian officials have welcomed the ruling describing it as a “breakthrough in curbing diaspora funded terrorism.
Security analysts say the judgement could set a precedent for holding diaspora agitators accountable for violence in their countries of origin.
