What Finland is doing about Nigeria’s complaint against Simon Ekpa – Finnish minister

The Finnish government said on Tuesday that it has started acting on the complaint by the Nigerian government against a Nigerian-Finnish citizen, Simon Ekpa, accused of leading brutal pro-Biafra secessionist campaigns in Nigeria’s South-east region.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Elina Valtonen, said in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, during a press conference she addressed alongside her Nordic counterparts, that Mr Ekpa’s case is now before Finnish courts.

“We have taken this up and discussed this with the Nigerian authorities… and the entire process is within our judicial system,” Ms Valtomen said, informing the gathering that the issue came up during a meeting with Nigerian government officials on Tuesday.

She did not provide details of the legal process.

However, for years, the Nigerian government has demanded drastic actions from the Finnish government and the European Union to stop Mr Ekpa’s fiery social media activities fuelling killings and instability in Nigeria’s South-east region.

Ms Valtomen and her Nordic counterparts arrived in Nigeria on Monday to deliberate on peace and security and to promote trade and investment cooperation between their countries and Nigeria.

Others with her on the first-of-its-kind group visit of Nordic countries’ top officials are the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Tobias Billström; the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, the State Secretary for International Development of Norway, Bjørg Sandkjær, and the Under Secretary for Foreign Policy, Denmark, Ms Eva Marie Frida Barløse.

The Nordic ministers said they met with the Nigerian government and officials of the West African regional body, ECOWAS, on Tuesday.

From left, Mr Tobias Billström, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Ms Elina Valtonen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Ms Eva Marie Frida Barløse, Under Secretary for Foreign Policy, Denmark, Ms Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Ms Bjørg Sandkjær, State Secretary for International Development, Norway. Photo credit: Ademola Popoola

According to them, issues of security, economic cooperation, education, trade and investments, and the rule of law, among other topics of shared interests, came up in the deliberation with the Nigerian government.

Mr Ekpa’s case, which has strained the Finnish government’s diplomatic relationship with the Nigerian government, was also discussed, according to Ms Valtomen, who avoided mentioning the name of the Nigerian-Finnish citizen.

Despite not explicitly mentioning Mr Ekpa’s name, her description of the case pointed unmistakably to Mr Ekpa, whose matter has created a fault line in the Nigeria-Finland diplomatic relationship.

The matter has put Finland in a problematic situation of having to navigate the blurry line between Mr Ekpa’s rights to freedom of expression and the criminality of his inciteful social media activities leading to killings and other forms of violence in Nigeria’s South-east.

Self-styled Biafra Prime Minister

Mr Ekpa, self-styled ‘Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government in-Exile’, has claimed responsibility for attacks on Nigerian security agents and anyone suspected of harbouring sympathy for Nigeria.

He gloats over such attacks as reprisals for what he describes as the terror Nigeria’s security forces unleash on “Biafra territory”.

From his abode in Finland, Mr Ekpa pushes for extreme measures to actualise the secession of Nigeria’s South-east region and parts of neighbouring states as a sovereign Biafra nation, the agitation that prompted Nigeria’s Civil War between 1967 and 1970.

His methods include the brutal enforcement of an illegal stay-at-home order on Mondays in the region, in addition to attacks on federal government institutions within the reach of brutal enforcers. Experts have yet to come to terms with the full scale of the adverse economic impact of the stay-at-home order complied with by citizens out of fear of attacks.

Mr Ekpa has broken with the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, over the best approach to actualising their shared goal of a sovereign Biafra.

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Mr Kanu, a dual British and Nigerian citizen, has been detained continuously by Nigeria’s state police, the State Security Service (SSS), since June 2021. He was first arrested for his secessionist campaigns in 2015 and detained until he was granted bail in 2017. He was re-arrested in Kenya in June 2021 and has since been held in custody. He faces treasonable felony charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja over his separatist activities.

The Nigerian government has accused Finland and the European Union of shielding Mr Ekpa to continue destabilising the South-east region.

Rule of law will be respected

Ms Valtomen stressed on Tuesday that the principle of the rule of law would guide Finland’s handling of Mr Ekpa’s case.

“Finland operates very strictly by the rule of law,” she said, adding that the matter is not a political question but an issue that would be decided solely by Finnish courts.

She said, “It is a question to the judicial system, and both our judicial systems collaborate on this matter, and we hope that we will be able to close it soon.”

The Nordic ministers emphasised their countries’ dedication to deepening relationships with Nigeria and the broader West African region.

They are scheduled to travel to Accra, Ghana, to continue promoting investments and trade cooperation.