Finnish court jails Nigerian-born activist Simon Ekpa for six years on terror charges
The Päijät-Häme District Court in southern Finland delivered the unanimous ruling, finding that Ekpa attempted to advance the Biafra cause through unlawful means.
A Finnish court has sentenced Nigerian-born activist Simon Ekpa to six years in prison after convicting him on terrorism-related charges tied to a separatist campaign for an independent Biafra state in south-eastern Nigeria.
The Päijät-Häme District Court in southern Finland delivered the unanimous ruling, finding that Ekpa attempted to advance the Biafra cause through unlawful means.
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According to the BBC, the court concluded that the 39-year-old, a Finnish citizen of Nigerian origin, supplied armed groups with weapons and explosives while using his social media platforms to incite violence in Nigeria.
Court documents further revealed that between August 2021 and November 2024, Ekpa also engaged in aggravated tax fraud.
Ekpa, who denied all charges, was arrested in February 2023 at his home in Lahti, Finland, where he once served as a local councillor. His legal team has not confirmed whether he will appeal the verdict.
Secessionist group
Ekpa rose to prominence as a leading voice within the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), a banned secessionist group led by Nnamdi Kanu, who is currently facing terrorism charges in Nigeria.
Founded in 2012 as a peaceful movement, Ipob launched an armed wing in 2020, claiming it sought to protect the Igbo ethnic community. Nigerian authorities, however, accuse the group of carrying out violent attacks that have destabilised parts of the south-east.
A 2022 BBC investigation identified Ekpa as one of Ipob’s so-called “media warriors,” alleging that he used digital platforms to encourage unrest. Nigerian officials have repeatedly demanded his extradition, accusing him of fuelling separatist violence from abroad.
In March 2023, the Nigerian army listed him among 96 suspects wanted for terrorism and violent extremism.
The ruling against Ekpa comes against the backdrop of decades of unresolved tensions over Biafra. The first push for independence in the late 1960s, led by military officer Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, triggered a brutal three-year civil war that claimed more than one million lives, largely due to famine and disease.
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