Simon Ekpa, Biafran separatist leader and local politician for Finland’s National Coalition Party, is one of five people arrested earlier this week on suspicion of involvement in terrorism offenses.
Ekpa is suspected of public incitement to commit a terrorist offense and four others of financing terrorist offenses. On Thursday, Finnish authorities detained Ekpa, and the Päijät-Häme District Court ordered his continued detention on probable cause, citing allegations of inciting violence via social media.
“The police suspect that the man based in Finland has pursued his efforts with means that have led to violence against civilians and authorities as well as to other crimes in southeastern Nigeria. The man has carried out these activities, for example, through his social media channels”, says Otto Hiltunen, Chief Investigator at the National Bureau of Investigation. It is worth noting that Ekpa was also arrested as recently as last year on suspicion of fundraising offenses.
Simon Ekpa is a Finnish citizen and an elected municipal politician for the National Coalition Party in Lahti – but he also considers himself the supreme leader of Biafra’s government-in-exile.
Nigeria demands extradition
Biafra was a short-lived breakaway republic from Nigeria’s eastern region that declared independence in 1967 and ceased to exist in 1970 after losing the bloody Biafran War.
Ekpa leads a movement to restore Biafra through armed struggle and is classified as a terrorist by Nigeria’s leadership. Nigeria has also repeatedly tried to have him extradited.
The local politician, in turn, claims that the Nigerian government are the terrorists and demands that they withdraw from the Biafra region.
During its brief existence, the breakaway state was recognized by only a handful of countries, and today international support for the re-establishment of an independent Biafra is considered almost non-existent.
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