The Nigerian government has hailed the sentencing of the controversial Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, to six years in prison by the Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland.
The conviction
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland sentenced Mr Ekpa to six years in prison after finding him guilty of terrorism-related charges.
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The Finnish court also convicted Mr Ekpa of “aggravated tax fraud.”
‘Major victory in fight against terror’
Reacting in a post on his X handle on Monday, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, described Mr Ekpa’s conviction as a “major victory” for the fight against terror.
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“We welcome the news of Simon Ekpa’s conviction by a Finnland court for terrorism-related crimes, and his sentencing to six years in prison,” Mr Idris wrote on the microblogging platform.
“(It is) a major victory for the Nigerian people in the collective fight against terror,” he added.
Arrest and prosecution
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Mr Ekpa, 40, was arrested alongside four others on 21 November 2024 on suspicion of terrorist activities.
The Finnish police had said Mr Ekpa “contributed to violence and crimes against civilians in South-eastern Nigeria.”
The District Court of Päijät-Häme later ordered that the pro-Biafra agitator be imprisoned “with probable cause on suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.”
A Nigerian-Finnish citizen, Mr Ekpa heads Autopilot, a faction of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
IPOB is a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria.
The separatist group has been linked to some deadly attacks in the two regions, although it has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.
Hours after the arrest, the IPOB faction loyal to Nnamdi Kanu disowned Mr Ekpa, explaining that the pro-Biafra agitator was never its member.
Mr Ekpa was initially indicted for financing terrorism alongside the four other suspects.
The police suspected that the Biafra agitator committed the crime of collecting money in violation of the Finnish Money Collection Act.
The Finnish police said he allegedly committed the crimes between 23 August 2021 and 18 November 2024 in Lahti, a town in Finland.
However, the four other suspects were later released during preliminary investigation.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the district court had set May 2025 as the deadline for prosecutors to present possible charges against Mr Ekpa.
Mr Ekpa was charged in mid-May with public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent and participation in a terrorist group.
The prosecutor had said the charges were linked to Mr Ekpa’s secessionist activities in “Biafra land.”
In his first appearance in court on 30 May, the Biafra agitator denied terrorism charges against.
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