Simon Ekpa gets six-year jail term in Finland

A Finnish District Court has sentenced Simon Ekpa, the self-styled leader of the “Indigenous People of Biafra Government in Exile,” to six years in prison for terrorism-related offenses.

Ekpa was arrested on November 21, 2024, by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after months of monitoring his activities. Authorities accused him of using social media to incite terrorism and promote violence, actions which Finnish investigators said fueled unrest in southeastern Nigeria.

The Päijät-Häme District Court ruled that Ekpa’s offenses amounted to public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent. The charges covered activities spanning from August 2021 to November 2024.

In addition to his imprisonment, Finnish authorities had earlier frozen Ekpa’s assets, as well as those of some associates and related companies, during the investigation.

Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has warned against linking it to the reported conviction of Simon Ekpa in Finland.

IPOB insisted that the self-acclaimed leader of the “Biafra Government in Exile” has no ties with the group or its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

In a statement on Monday, IPOB’s spokesperson, Emma Powerful, said the move to associate Ekpa with the group was a ploy by the Nigerian government to compromise Kanu’s trial.

“The world must know that Simon Ekpa has never held any position in IPOB or ESN.

“He created his own contraptions, such as the so-called ‘Biafra Government in Exile’ and ‘Biafra Liberation Army,’ which IPOB has long repudiated,” the statement read.

The group alleged that authorities were using Ekpa’s case to influence the ruling on Kanu’s no-case submission, scheduled for October 10, 2025, describing the delay in judgment as “judicial hostage-taking.”

It called on the European Union, Finland, the UK, the US, and the United Nations to intervene, stressing that IPOB remained a peaceful movement pursuing self-determination under international law.