On Friday, Finnish prosecutors announced the indictment of an individual for online incitement to terrorism, identified by media reports as Simon Ekpa, a leader among Nigerian separatists.
The National Prosecution Authority of Finland issued a statement indicating charges of “public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and involvement in the activities of a terrorist organization” against a Finnish citizen.
These alleged offenses reportedly took place in Lahti from 2021 to 2024 and are connected to the suspect’s attempts to advocate for the independence of Nigeria’s Biafra region.
While the prosecution did not disclose the name of the accused, Finnish public broadcaster YLE confirmed his identity as Simon Ekpa, who claims to head the Biafra Republic’s government-in-exile. Ekpa was apprehended in November and is currently in custody, where he has denied the allegations against him.
Ekpa is recognized as the self-proclaimed leader of a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group advocating for the autonomy of Nigeria’s southeastern region, which experienced a devastating civil war in the late 1960s.
A dual citizen of Finland and Nigeria, Ekpa has also served as a representative for Finland’s conservative National Coalition Party in Lahti, where he participated in a public transport committee.
Following his arrest, Finnish authorities sought to detain four additional individuals on suspicions of financing Ekpa’s activities. However, on Friday, the prosecution authority announced that charges against these four individuals had been dropped due to insufficient evidence.
In recent years, Ekpa has been subject to multiple fact-checks by AFP concerning false claims and misinformation related to his independence advocacy.
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