Simon Ekpa a factional pro-Biafra separatist agitator, has been arrested. His arrest was effected on Thursday by Finland authorities
By Emma Ogbuehi
Simon Ekpa a factional pro-Biafra separatist agitator, has been arrested. His arrest was effected on Thursday by Finland authorities
Multiple sources, including the PUNCH, quoting a Finland news outlet, HS, reported that the the police escorted the separatist out of his apartment in Lahti.
The platform claimed that they had gone to Ekpa’s residence for an interview but to their surprise, the Finland police, KRP, answered when the HS team rang the separatist bell.
The HS said the KRP prevented their team from entering Ekpa’s apartment and said that the interview would be moved “to the future”.
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When contacted, an official of the Finnish Embassy in Abuja who craves anonymity confirmed Ekpa’s arrest to the newspaper
“It is our understanding that he is currently in police custody in Finland,” the official who is not authorised to speak to the press was quoted to have said.
“According to information available to us, the image is verified by Helsingin Sanomat, a Finnish newspaper; in it, Ekpa is seen being escorted out of his home in Lahti by plainclothes Finnish police”, the official volunteered.
Before his eventual arrest on Thursday, Nigerians all over the world have signed a petition appealing to the Finnish government, Nigerian Government and the European Union to arrest Ekpa, the brain behind the sit-at-home order in the South-East.
Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, in had repeatedly ordered the people of the South-East to observe a sit-at-home and asked them to boycott the country’s general elections billed for Saturday.
His repeated sit-at-home order has been marked by bloodshed and destruction of lives and properties in the region by its enforcers.
Late last year, Ekpa, who claims discipleship of the detained leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in a viral video ordered the people of the South East to observe a sit-at-home from December 9 to 14, 2022. Out of fear and other considerations, the people obeyed. In the run up to the election, there are insinuations that similar directive could be issued by him or any of the contending forces in the region and the residents, out of fear, may comply and lose their rights of electing those to govern them.