HELSINKI, Finland — A Finnish court has sentenced Simon Ekpa, a pro-Biafra agitator and lawyer based in Finland, to six years in prison after finding him guilty of terrorism-related offences, aggravated tax fraud, and violations of the Attorneys Act.
The Päijät-Häme District Court, in a ruling delivered on Monday, September 1, 2025, concluded that Ekpa incited terrorism and actively participated in the activities of a terrorist organisation.
According to Yle, a Finnish newspaper, the court said Ekpa used his “significant social media following” to inflame tensions in Nigeria’s southeast between August 2021 and November 2024.
Judges found that he was an influential figure within a militant separatist movement seeking to create an independent Biafra state.
The three-member panel also ruled that Ekpa had facilitated the supply of weapons, explosives, and ammunition through his contacts and had encouraged his followers on X, formerly Twitter, to commit violent crimes in Nigeria.
Ekpa, who once described himself as a disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), rose to prominence after Kanu’s extradition from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021.
He was briefly appointed as lead broadcaster of Radio Biafra but was dismissed by IPOB weeks later after refusing to sign its rules of engagement.
Following his dismissal, he formed a splinter separatist group and began issuing sit-at-home orders in southeastern Nigeria via social media.
He also called for attacks on security forces, drawing widespread condemnation.
IPOB repeatedly distanced itself from his directives and activities.
Ekpa was arrested in Finland in November 2024 and detained for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.”
In March 2025, the Nigerian federal government officially designated him a “terrorism financier.”
