A district court in Finland has sentenced an agitator for the actualisation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa to six years in prison for terrorism.
Ekpa, was sentenced on Monday, September 1.
In the ruling, the Päijät-Häme court found Ekpa guilty of inciting terrorism and participating in the activities of a terrorist group.
Acording to Finnish newspaper Yle, the court said Ekpa had used his “significant social media following” to stoke tensions in Nigeria’s south-east region between August 2021 and November 2024.
The three-member panel of judges, in a unanimous ruling, also stated that Ekpa was an influential member of a militant separatist movement whose goal was to actualise the secession of a Biafran state from Nigeria.
The district court, as reported by Yle, further stated that Ekpa supplied these groups with “weapons, explosives, and ammunition” through his network of contacts in the region, and that he was also found to have encouraged his followers on the 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, the verdict added, meaning the Finnish court had jurisdiction in the case.
Ekpa had denied all the charges in court.
The Finnish court also convicted Ekpa of aggravated tax fraud and violating the provisions of the Attorneys Act.
