A Finnish District Court has sentenced Biafran political activist, Simon Ekpa, to six years imprisonment over terrorism-related crimes.
The court ruled that Ekpa had participated in a terrorist organisation and publicly incited crimes for terrorist purposes. His activities were linked to attempts to re-establish an independent state in the Biafra region of southeastern Nigeria, which briefly declared independence in the late 1960s.
According to the verdict, Ekpa used his large social media following to inflame tensions in the Biafra region between August 2021 and November 2024. The court said he was an influential member of a separatist movement that established armed groups seeking Biafra’s independence by force.
He was found to have supplied these groups with weapons, explosives, and ammunition through his contacts in the region, while also encouraging his followers on the social media platform X to commit crimes in Nigeria.
According to YLE.FI, Ekpa, a long-term resident of Lahti and former local councillor, committed these offences in Finland, which gave the court jurisdiction in the case. He had denied all charges. Born in Biafra, Ekpa moved to Finland in 2007 as an athlete.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which led the probe, had earlier frozen Ekpa’s assets, as well as those of his associates and affiliated companies.
The district court’s ruling, delivered on Monday, is not final and can be appealed to a higher court.
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