IPOB leader Simon Ekpa jailed for terrorism in Finland

A Finnish District Court has sentenced Biafra agitator and a leader of the Independent People of Biafra, Simon Ekpa to six years imprisonment after finding him guilty of terrorism-related charges.

The Finnish court ruled that Ekpa had participated in a terrorist organisation and had publicly incited crimes for terrorism purposes.

The charges relate to Ekpa’s alleged activities aimed at re-establishing an independent state in the Biafra region of southeastern Nigeria.

In its verdict, the court said that Ekpa had used his significant social media following to stoke tensions in the Biafra region between August 2021 and November 2024.

It added that Ekpa was an influential member of a Biafran separatist movement, which established armed groups aimed at bringing about Biafran independence by force.

The district court’s ruling further noted that Ekpa had supplied these groups with weapons, explosives, and ammunition through his network of contacts in the region, and he was also found to have encouraged his followers on social media platform X to commit crimes in Nigeria.

Ekpa, a long-term resident of Lahti and one-time local councillor, committed these crimes from the Finnish city, meaning the Finnish court had jurisdiction in the case.

Ekpa had denied all the charges in court.

Born in Nigeria, he moved to Finland in 2007 as an athlete.

The court on Monday also convicted him of aggravated tax fraud.

The district court’s verdict is not final, meaning it can be appealed to a higher court.