FINNISH authorities have detained Simon Ekpa, a pro-Biafra separatist agitator, alongside four others over suspected involvement in terrorism-related activities in Nigeria.
The Päijät-Häme District Court made the decision following a hearing in Lahti, Finland, where Ekpa was alleged to have incited crimes with terrorist intent, according to reports from Finland.
Yle reported that the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) accused Ekpa of leveraging his leadership in a Nigerian separatist group to promote violent activities in southeastern Nigeria.
According to the NBI, these activities, which reportedly targeted civilians and government forces, were coordinated through social media from Finland.
Otto Hiltunen, detective chief inspector, revealed that the investigation focused on Ekpa and four other suspects, all of whom are accused of financing terrorism
According to him, all five suspects were apprehended earlier this week, adding that the accused are residents of Lahti and Helsinki, with one suspect having no registered address in Finland.
Meanwhile, this was not the first time the Finnish government had arrested Ekpa.
The pro-Biafra agitator was arrested in Finland days after the Nigerian government expressed concern over his inciting comments and the imposition of a sit-at-home order on residents of Nigeria’s South-East, which could disrupt the elections scheduled for February 25, 20223, in the region.
Ekpa was detained by authorities in Lahti in February 2023, and would later be released in the evening of that day.
Ekpa’s arrest also came weeks after an investigation revealed how Ekpa and his men raise funds for their operations under the Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRGIE), through fundraising meetings held worldwide.
According to the report, the group collects funds to support their militia activities, while also seeking alternative revenue streams such as cryptocurrency launches, merchandise sales, extortion, and international lobbying, to expand their operations.
The ICIR reports that Ekpa, a faction leader of the pro-Biafra group known as IPOB Autopilots, has continued to enforce the sit-at-home order in the southeastern part of the country, with what started as a peaceful exercise for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) eventually became a bloody affair.
Residents of the South-East and visitors who decide to flout the order by stepping out for business, work, or personal reasons on Mondays risk losing their lives and property.
Several lives have been lost, and property destroyed at the hands of militias widely described as “unknown gunmen” who insist on enforcing the sit-at-home.
A report published by The ICIR in 2023 noted that micro businesses in the South-East states lost an average of N4.618 trillion ($10.495 billion) in one year to the sit-at-home order.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M