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A Finnish Court has sentenced Igbo separatist leader Simon Ekpa to six years of imprisonment after determining he was guilty of charges related to terrorism.
The Päijät-Häme District Court found that Ekpa had engaged with a terrorist organisation and had incited crimes for purposes associated with terrorism publicly.
These charges pertain to Ekpa’s purported efforts to restore an independent state in the Biafra area of southeastern Nigeria, which experienced a brief period of independence in the late 1960s.
According to the court’s decision, Ekpa utilised his substantial social media following to heighten tensions in Migeria’s South east region from August 2021 to November 2024. It further stated that Ekpa was a key figure in a Biafran separatist movement that formed armed groups intending to achieve Biafran independence through violence.
The ruling from the district court also highlighted that Ekpa had provided these groups with weapons, explosives, and ammunition via his network of contacts within the region, and he was found to have urged his followers on the social media platform X to engage in criminal activities in Nigeria.
Ekpa, who has lived in Lahti for a long time and once served as a local councillor, committed these offences in the Finnish city, which meant that the Finnish court had jurisdiction over the matter.
He refuted all allegations in court. Originally from Ohaukwu, Ebonyi State, Samuel Ekpa relocated to Finland in 2007 to pursue a career as an athlete.
On Monday, the court also found him guilty of serious tax fraud. The ruling from the district court is not final, as it can be appealed in a higher court.
