Terrorism: Finnish court fixes date for Simon Ekpa’s trial

Finnish authorities have said that controversial pro-Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa is billed to face trial in May 2025.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Mr Ekpa was arrested alongside four others on 21 November on suspicion of terrorist activities.

The Finnish police said Mr Ekpa “has contributed to violence and crimes against civilians in South-eastern Nigeria.”

The District Court of Päijät-Häme later ordered that the pro-Biafra agitator be imprisoned “with probable cause on suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.”

A Nigerian-Finnish citizen, Mr Ekpa heads Autopilot, a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

IPOB is a group leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.

The separatist group has been linked to some deadly attacks in the two regions, although it has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.

Meanwhile, hours after the arrest, the IPOB faction loyal to Mr Kanu disowned Mr Ekpa, explaining that the pro-Biafra agitator was never their member.

Offences

Mr Ekpa was indicted for financing terrorism alongside the four other suspects.

The police have a suspicion that the Biafra agitator committed the crime of collecting money in violation of the Finnish Money Collection Act.

The Finnish police said he allegedly committed the crimes between 23 August 2021 and 18 November 2024 in Lahti, a town in Finland.

Trial date

A Senior Detective Superintendent at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, Mikko Laaksonen, told Punch newspaper on Tuesday that the district court had set May 2025 as the deadline for prosecutors to present possible charges against Mr Ekpa.

Mr Laaksonen said the investigation was ongoing, and no further details could be disclosed.

Asked when Mr Ekpa’s case would come up in court, he responded, “Due to the ongoing investigation, no further details can be disclosed.

“The date for bringing up possible charges by the prosecution was set by the district court to May 2025.”

‘Possible hearing’

Mr Laaksonen said Mr Ekpa and the Finnish authorities may request a re-evaluation of the deadline after two weeks.

“In a basic situation regarding the remand, the next possible hearing can be held no earlier than two weeks from the previous hearing, should the parties in question seek for the matter to be re-evaluated by the district court,” he explained.

The Nigerian government said on Friday that its “sustained diplomatic pressure” on Finnish authorities resulted in Mr Ekpa’s arrest in Finland.

The government explained that their “request for action” to the Finnish government featured “high-level engagements between countries.”

The senior detective superintendent confirmed that there was international cooperation in the arrest and prosecution of the pro-Biafra agitator.

“International cooperation is part of the investigation due to the nature of the case, but no further comments can be given on the subject at this point,” the official stated.

Simon Ekpa at a glance

Born 21 March 1985, Mr Ekpa hails from Ngbo, a community in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, South-east Nigeria.

The Biafra agitator, based in Finland, has been linked to growing insecurity in south-east Nigeria.

He has continued to issue sit-at-home orders in the region during which residents who step out are sometimes killed or attacked by gunmen enforcing the illegal order.

Mr Ekpa has been using his social media pages, mainly X, to push secessionist agenda, issue illegal orders, disseminate fake news, and solicit for funds for suspected terrorist activities.

On 3 July 2023 for instance, he posted via his verified X handle that 50 men and 50 women were needed to fund Biafra movement with $10,000 monthly for the next six months with a promise that such would enable the restoration of Biafra by the end of 2023.

Mr Ekpa has also repeatedly claimed responsibility for various attacks and killings in the region.

The Nigerian government had made unsuccessful and repeated efforts to extradite Mr Ekpa to Nigeria to face prosecution.

In February 2023, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvanainen, over threat by Mr Ekpa to disrupt the country’s 2023 general elections.

Geoffrey Onyeama, the then Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, had in a meeting with the Finnish ambassador asked for the cooperation of the Finnish government to arrest Mr Ekpa’s threats to disrupt the exercise.

But Mrs Pylvanainen said although the Finnish government was concerned about the situation, there was a need to take Mr Ekpa’s rights into consideration given that he is a Finnish citizen.

“So, everything has to obviously be done according to Finnish legislation,” she had stated.