Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), on Friday said Nigeria has no extradition process against the leader of the Autopilot faction of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and head of Biafra Liberation Army (BLA), Simon Ekpa.
Ekpa, who until his arrest by Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)in November last year, claimed responsibilities for scores of killings, attacks and destruction of property in South East Nigeria often directed against perceived “enemies of the struggle.”
The former municipal politician from Lahti, Finland and Biafran separatist leader, have been under investigations with the Finnish NBI accusing him being involved in serious terrorism-related crimes.
Already, the NBI said it suspects Ekpa of “public exhortation to an offence committed with a terrorist intent and of contributing to the activities of a terrorist group.”
A Finnish newspaper, Yle, quoted Detective Superintendent Otto Hiltunen who was the lead investigator as saying in a Press Release on Tuesday of saying that “as we suspected that the consequences of the public exhortation and the activities of a terrorist group occurred in Nigeria, we cooperated with the Nigerian authorities during the criminal investigation.”
A statement by Kamarudeen Ogundele, Special Asistant to the President on Communication and Publicity,
Office of the AGF and Minister of Justice said: “The attention of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has been drawn to media reports where he was erroneously reported to have said that the federal government had commenced an extradition process against Simon Ekpa.
“The report is untrue and a complete departure from what the AGF said at the Stakeholders/Citizen Engagement Forum held on Thursday in Abuja.
“Ekpa, a leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is currently standing trial in Finland for charges filed against him by the Finnish government.
“To set the record straight, what the AGF said during the question and answer session was that the Nigerian government had been engaging with Finnish authorities to ensure that Simon Ekpa is held accountable for his actions.
“He explained that since the crimes committed by Simon Ekpa were crossborder in nature, the Nigerian government eagerly awaits the outcome of the proposed trial in Finland to have an informed decision on the next step to take.
“The AGF appeals to the media to be circumspect and avoid reporting speculations on the sensitive matter.”
