A district court in Finland has sentenced Nigerian but Finland-based Simon Ekpa to six years in prison for terrorism.
Ekpa, an agitator for the actualisation of Biafra by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was sentenced on Monday, September 1.
In the ruling, the Päijät-Häme court found Ekpa guilty of inciting terrorism and participating in the activities of a terrorist group.
Finnish newspaper, Yle, reports that the court said Ekpa had used his “significant social media following” to stoke tensions in Nigeria’s south-east region between August 2021 and November 2024.
The district court also noted that Ekpa had supplied certain groups with weapons, explosives, and ammunition “through his network of contacts in the region, and he was also found to have encouraged his followers on social media platform X to commit crimes in Nigeria”.
Ekpa had denied all the charges in court.
A long-term resident of Lahti and one-time local councillor, Ekpa, committed these crimes from the Finnish city, the verdict added, meaning that the Finnish court had jurisdiction in the case.
The Finnish court also convicted Ekpa of aggravated tax fraud and violating the provisions of the Attorneys Act.