The Federal Government has confirmed the arrest of Nigerian-Finnish citizen and prominent leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (1POB), Simon Njoku Ekpa by Finnish authorities.
His arrest was confirmed by the Acting Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi imomotimi Ebienfa in a statement on Friday.
The statement explained that Ekpa was
was charged with inciting terrorism and promoting violence.
It said, the Finnish District Court of Paijat-Hame ruled to detain him on probable cause for publicly inciting crimes with terrorist intent.
“The Finnish authorities alleged that Mr. Ekpa used social media platforms to spread separatist propaganda, incite violence and encourage illegal actions, which had caused significant disruptions in the South-East of Nigeria.
“Finnish investigators had also linked him to incidents of violence in Nigeria, which were believed to had been fueled by his online activities”, the statement noted.
It said, the arrest of Mr. Ekpa follows sustained diplomatic pressure by the Nigerian government on Finland, to take action against his activities, which were linked to violence and instability in the South-East of Nigeria.
“The request for action featured during high level engagements between countries”, the statement disclosed.
It affirmed that the arrest of Mr. Simon Ekpa, was a significant development in addressing the activities of IPOB, and also neutralizing the influence of transnational actors and their impact on the nation’s national security.
The Ministry said, it would continue to monitor the legal proceedings and provide further updates as the case progresses.
