A Finnish court has sentenced Nigerian-Finnish separatist agitator Simon Ekpa to six years in prison for terrorism-related offences, including inciting violence in Nigeria.
The Päijät-Häme District Court found Ekpa guilty of promoting the secessionist Biafra cause through online campaigns that prosecutors said encouraged acts of terrorism between 2021 and 2024.
He was also convicted of aggravated tax fraud and breaching Finland’s Lawyers Act.
Ekpa, a dual citizen of Nigeria and Finland, has been a prominent figure in the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group banned in Nigeria as a terrorist organisation.
Finnish authorities said his activities, coordinated from Lahti, extended to financing and inciting violent attacks in Nigeria.
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He was arrested in November 2024 following an investigation carried out in cooperation with Nigerian security agencies. Prosecutors had pushed for a six-year sentence, citing “extensive evidence” of his online incitement.
Ekpa, who denies all charges, has been in custody since his arrest.
His lawyers argued that Nigerian-sourced intelligence used in the case was unreliable.
The case has drawn international attention, as IPOB’s campaign for an independent Biafra has remained a flashpoint in Nigeria, decades after the country’s civil war.