The Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland has ordered the remand of popular Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa on suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.
The court made the decision on Thursday after the Central Criminal Police arraigned him for his role in terror plaguing Nigeria’s Southeast region, local newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reports.
Otto Hiltunen, crime commissioner and head of the investigation, said, “The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria.
“The man has carried out his activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”
Hiltunen also told the court there were four other suspects in Finland the police believed were financing Ekpa’s operations.
The report describes Ekpa as a native of Lahti, a city in Finland, with Nigerian roots.
According to records from the court the newspaper referenced, his crime spans three years from August 23, 2021, to November 18, 2024.
It is not the first time the police would be arresting Ekpa. In February 2023, they arrested him in a private apartment in Lahti but released him on the same day.
Ekpa has remained vocal on social media, soliciting funds and making agitations for a breakaway Biafran nation through the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ground and Eastern Security Network (ESN). Both groups have contributed to violence, killings and maiming of residents in Nigeria’s southeastern region.
@FIJ