Finnish prosecutors have charged Nigerian separatist leader Simon Ekpa with inciting terrorism online.
According to Finland’s National Prosecution Authority, the charges relate to “suspected public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and participation in the activities of a terrorist group” between 2021 and 2024.
It added that the alleged crimes had been committed in the city of Lahti between 2021 and 2024 and were related to the suspect’s efforts to establish Nigeria’s Biafra region as an independent state.
The prosecution authority did not name the accused but Finnish public broadcaster YLE identified him as separatist leader Simon Ekpa.
Ekpa — who claims to lead the Biafra Republic’s government in exile — was detained in November.
According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges.
Ekpa is known as a self-proclaimed leader of a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which is pushing for the independence of Nigeria’s southeast, where a bloody civil war was fought in the late 1960s.
The dual Finnish-Nigerian national has also been a local representative for Finland’s conservative National Coalition Party in the city of Lahti, north of Helsinki, where he has served on a public transport committee.
The prosecution authority announced that charges against four others suspected of financing Ekpa’s activities have been dropped due to lack of evidence.
Ekpa, known for spreading false claims and disinformation, has been the subject of several fact-checks by AFP in recent years for his independence campaigning. He remains in custody and denies the charges
