Simon Ekpa charged with inciting terrorism in Finland
By Jeffrey Agbo
Finnish prosecutors have charged a man identified by local media as Nigerian separatist leader Simon Ekpa with inciting terrorism online in connection to his pro-Biafra activities.
In a statement released Friday, Finland’s National Prosecution Authority announced it had filed charges against “a Finnish individual in a case involving suspected public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and participation in the activities of a terrorist group,” reports AFP.
The offences reportedly took place in Lahti, southern Finland, between 2021 and 2024.
While the prosecution authority did not disclose the suspect’s name, Finnish public broadcaster YLE confirmed that the accused is Simon Ekpa, a self-proclaimed leader of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile.
Ekpa has remained in custody since his detention in November and has denied the charges, according to the prosecution.
The separatist figure is widely known for his affiliation with a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group advocating for the secession of Nigeria’s southeast region, which was at the centre of the country’s brutal civil war in the late 1960s.
In addition to his political activism, Ekpa has held a role as a local representative of Finland’s conservative National Coalition Party in Lahti, where he served on a public transport committee.
Authorities also investigated four other individuals suspected of financing Ekpa’s activities. However, the prosecution said on Friday that charges against those individuals had been dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Ekpa has drawn scrutiny in recent years for spreading misinformation and unverified claims in support of his independence campaign. Several of his statements have been debunked through fact-checks conducted by international news agencies.
