Simon Ekpa faces six-year imprisonment in Finland 

The self- styled prime minister of Biafra  was arrested last November appeared before the Päijät-Häme District Court yesterday in a pre-hearing in connection to the terrorism-related charges brought against him.

Finnish prosecutors accuse Ekpa of involvement with a terrorist organisation and openly inciting crimes for terrorist purposes.

Also, he is alleged to be active in a separatist movement advocating independence for the Republic of Biafra, as well as conducting online and coordinated acts of terrorism from Finland, contrary to the laws of the country.

According to the prosecutors, they are in possession of a lot of evidence against Ekpa and are demanding a six-year imprisonment for him.

“We have a great deal of evidence regarding this individual’s online activity and communications,” Sampsa Hakala,  state prosecutor said.

However, the prosecution acknowledged  difficulty in obtaining detailed information about the alleged terrorism-related acts because they were peroetrated in Africa.

Kaarle Gummerus, Ekpa’s lawyer,

expressed concerns about the reliability of information coming from Nigeria even though the Nigerian authorities collaborated with the Finnish police in investigating the matter.

Ekpa had denied the charges, including suspicions of ordering weapons for pro-Biafra groups.

Apart from his terrorism case, he is also being investigated over allegations of aggravated tax fraud.

Ekpa, who has been repeatedly disowned by the indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is also a Finnish citizen and a member of the National Coalition Party, NCP. He also served on Lahti’s public transport board.

According to the IPOB, Ekpa himself had identified himself to the Finnish court as a ‘content creator’ rather than a freedom fighter or a representative of IPOB.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the decision of the Finnish authorities—undoubtedly influenced by the British Foreign Office—to schedule the trial of Simon Ekpa on May 30, a sacred day for Biafrans when we honour the memory of our five million martyrs murdered during the genocidal war against our people,” IPOB said in a statement.

“This provocative timing is not a coincidence. It is a carefully calculated insult designed to mock our pain, distort our history, and distract from the continued illegal detention and persecution of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

“Let it be made unequivocally clear: Simon Ekpa is NOT a member of IPOB. He has been publicly disowned by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu himself.

“During his court appearance in Finland, Ekpa described himself as a “content creator”—not a freedom fighter, not a representative of IPOB, and certainly not a defender of the Biafra cause.

“Any attempt by foreign or Nigerian media to link his actions to IPOB is fraudulent, lazy and malicious.”