Kingsley Abavo (Managing Editor), Benin
According to prosecutors, he has been actively involved in a separatist movement seeking independence for southeastern Nigeria under the name “Biafra.”
Pro-Biafra agitator and die-hard, Simon Ekpa has been slammed a six year jail term in Finland media reports say.
The Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland found Ekpa guilty of terrorism charges, pronounced judgement and sentenced him accordingly, BBC reports said.
According to the court decision, Ekpa was found guilty of inciting terrorism in Nigeria.
He was also said to have promoted the independence of the Biafra region through illegal means between 2021 and 2024.
Other accusations included aggravated tax fraud and violations of the Lawyers Act.
In May, 2025 SaharaReporters informed that the trial of Simon Ekpa for alleged terrorism commenced in Finland.
He was accused of participating in a terrorist organisation and publicly inciting crimes for terrorist purposes.
Consequently, Finnish police investigated the allegations in collaboration with the Nigerian authorities and Ekpa was charged before the Päijät-Häme District Court.
According to prosecutors, he has been actively involved in a separatist movement, seeking independence for the southeastern Nigeria under the name ‘Biafra.’
The reports said the allegations considered the activity conducted online and coordinated from Finland, may have constituted terrorism under the Finnish law.
Prosecutors demanded six-year prison sentence for Ekpa
“We have a great deal of evidence regarding this individual’s online activity and communications,” state prosecutor, Sampsa Hakala was quoted to have said.
But at the pre-trial hearing, the defence lawyer, Kaarle Gummerus, reportedly raised concerns about the reliability of information coming from Nigeria.
Earlier in May, SaharaReporters informed that Finland’s National Prosecution Authority had charged Nigerian Biafran agitator Simon Ekpa with inciting terrorism online.
The Prosecution Authority in a statement, accused Ekpa, who is also a Finnish citizen of “public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and participation in the activities of a terrorist group,” according to the AFP.
The prosecutors were said to have held that Ekpa, a self-acclaimed Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile, committed the offence in Lahti, a city in southern Finland, between 2021 and 2024.
According to the AFP, while Finnish authorities did not name the individual in the official statement, a Finnish public broadcaster, YLE, confirmed the suspect as Ekpa; a dual Finnish-Nigerian national who has drawn international attention for his outspoken campaign to establish an independent Biafra state in the southeastern Nigeria.
Ekpa was arrested and detained by Finnish police in November 2024.
Pro-Biafran Agitator Simon Ekpa (center) was arrested at his home in the centre of Lahti in 2023. Picture: Markku Niskanen / HS
He has since remained in custody and denied all charges; but his online activities incited acts of violence in Nigeria under the guise of pro-Biafra agitation, the Prosecution Authority argued.
The charges stemmed from his prominent role in a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist group banned as a terrorist organisation in 2017 by the former President Muhammadu Buhari-led Nigerian government.
IPOB has long pushed for the secession of the Igbo-dominated southeastern region of Nigeria, which was the centre of a brutal civil war from 1967 to 1970, allegedly resulting in over a million deaths.
Finnish authorities also investigated potential financial support for Ekpa’s activities, the reports said.
Following his arrest in 2024, police requested the detention of four individuals suspected of financing his operations.
However, the Prosecution Authority confirmed that the charges against those individuals had been dropped due to insufficient evidence.
FG commends Finland for conviction of Simon Ekpa
The Federal Government in a statement by Mohammed Idris,
Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation on Monday, 1 September , 2025 welcomes the judgment of the Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland, which it said was a ‘landmark’.
The ruling it said; “stands as a watershed moment not only for the countless innocent Nigerians whose lives and livelihoods have been brutally disrupted by the reign of terror incited and financed by Ekpa and his collaborators, but also for the strengthening of bilateral relations between Nigeria and Finland.
“For years, Ekpa’s reckless incitement and orchestration of violence through IPOB terror activities unleashed unspeakable pain: families shattered, businesses destroyed, children orphaned, and entire communities forced to live under fear.
“Hundreds of lives were lost, and many more maimed, in pursuit of a destructive and unlawful agenda that sought to undermine the peace, unity, and sovereignty of our nation.
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“By upholding the rule of law and ensuring that justice is served, the Finnish judiciary has not only vindicated Nigeria’s consistent position on this matter but also sent a clear signal to extremists everywhere that the world is watching, and justice will catch up with those who seek to destabilize societies through terror.
“The Tinubu administration remains unshakable in its resolve to defend Nigeria’s sovereignty and protect the dignity of every citizen.
“We will continue to mobilize every resource; diplomatic, military, and judicial, to preserve the peace, unity, and territorial integrity of our country.
“We urge all those who, under the misguidance of Simon Ekpa and others, have taken up arms against their fatherland to immediately lay them down and embrace the path of peace.
“Nigeria is big enough for all its people, but there can be no progress where violence and division prevail.
“The Federal Government also extends its profound gratitude to the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Nigerian Armed Forces, the security and intelligence agencies, and the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nigeria Police, whose sacrifices, courage, and commitment continue to secure our homeland in the face of daunting challenges.
“Their service and the resilience of the Nigerian people remain the backbone of our enduring unity.
“As we mark this turning point, the Federal Government enjoins all Nigerians, at home and abroad, to work together for national unity, peace, and security of the country.”
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