Simon Ekpa: Finnish prosecutors seek six-year jail term for agitator
Featured
A six year jail term in Finland awaits self- styled prime minister of Biafra, Simon Ekpa, if the court now trying him for alleged terrorism in that country accedes to the request of his prosecutors.
Ekpa, who was arrested last November by the Finnish authorities, appeared before the Päijät-Häme District Court yesterday to face terrorism-related charges in a preparatory hearing.
His court appearance coincided with the fresh sit at home in the South East called by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra ( MASSOB), to mark ‘Biafra Day’.
Social and economic activities were grounded in many parts of Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Imo states more for fear of attack by miscreants who might want to enforce the protest than in obedience to the organisers.
But residents of Ebonyi defied the call to sit at home. It was business as usual across the state as people went about their activities.
Finnish prosecutors accuse Ekpa of participating in a terrorist organisation and publicly inciting crimes for terrorist purposes.
They also allege that he has been actively involved in a separatist movement seeking independence for Biafra.
According to them, the accused person’s activity, conducted online and coordinated from Finland, may constitute terrorism under Finnish law.
They claim to have a lot of evidence against him and are demanding a six-year prison sentence for him.
Said state prosecutor Sampsa Hakala: “We have a great deal of evidence regarding this individual’s online activity and communications.”
The prosecution, however, said obtaining detailed information about the alleged terrorism-related acts was difficult, as they took place in Africa.
Ekpa’s lawyer, Kaarle Gummerus, raised concerns about the reliability of information coming from Nigeria.
Finnish police have investigated the case together with Nigerian authorities.
During police interrogation, Ekpa denied the charges, including suspicions of ordering weapons for pro-Biafra groups.
The district court is also examining allegations of aggravated tax fraud.
Ekpa moved to Finland in 2007 as an athlete. He has been a member of the National Coalition Party (NCP) and served on Lahti’s public transport board.
However, IPOB yesterday sought to distance itself from Ekpa and claimed that he was not a member of the group.
It claimed that Ekpa himself had identified himself to the Finnish court as a ‘content creator’ rather than a freedom fighter or a representative of IPOB.
It described as fraudulent and malicious any attempt to link Ekpa’s actions to IPOB.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the decision of the Finnish authorities—undoubtedly influenced by the British Foreign Office—to schedule the trial of Simon Ekpa on May 30, a sacred day for Biafrans when we honour the memory of our five million martyrs murdered during the genocidal war against our people,” it said in a statement.
“This provocative timing is not a coincidence. It is a carefully calculated insult designed to mock our pain, distort our history, and distract from the continued illegal detention and persecution of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“Let it be made unequivocally clear: Simon Ekpa is NOT a member of IPOB. He has been publicly disowned by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu himself.
“During his court appearance in Finland, Ekpa described himself as a “content creator”—not a freedom fighter, not a representative of IPOB, and certainly not a defender of the Biafra cause.
“Any attempt by foreign or Nigerian media to link his actions to IPOB is fraudulent, lazy and malicious.”
Social and economic activities in many parts of these states were paralysed yesterday by the sit at home declared by IPOB and MASSOB to mark “Biafra Day’.
The only exception was Ebonyi where the residents went about their normal duties.
Enugu metropolis was a shadow of itself.
The Enugu State capital was deserted by residents.
Government offices, banks, shops, schools, market places and other offices were shut as were motor parks, filling stations and eateries.
Only a few commercial vehicles and tricycles operated.
Security operatives were seen patrolling the streets.
The situation was not different in Abia, Anambra and Imo states.
The popular Ariaria International Market, Ekeoha Market, Cemetery, Ahịa Ọhụrụ and other markets in Abia State did not open for business.
Schools, including public and private ones, asked their students to stay at home.
Government and private companies including commercial banks were similarly shut for business.
Markets, schools and offices in Imo and Anambra similarly shut down.
The roads were largely empty.
The Imo State Police Command urged residents to disregard the IPOB/MASSOB order and warned against attempts to enforce it.
Police Commissioner Aboki Danjuma reassured all residents that the Command, in synergy with other security agencies, had activated robust security measures to forestall any form of threat or attack across the state.
The Service Commanders and Heads of security agencies in Imo—including Brigadier General M. I. Abbas, Commander 34 Artillery Brigade Obinze; DSS Director DD Olushola Aguda; Air Cdr DE Bello, Commander Nigeria Air Force 211 QRG; as well as heads of NSCDC, Immigration, FRSC, and Fire Services, according to him, had jointly instituted proactive measures and were working to avert any sit-at-home threat and protect lives and property.
He said joint security operatives had been strategically deployed across the 27 local government areas of the state.
“These operatives are currently undertaking intensive confidence-building patrols and operation show-of-force to deter criminal elements and reassure members of the public,” the police boss noted.
No violence was reported at press time.
The sit-at-home protest was a non- starter in Ebonyi.
The roads, markets, shops, banks and most schools were busy as usual.
A resident, James Ikedieze, said the people were tired of the sit-at-home.
He wondered why the organisers could impose restrictions unilaterally on the people.
“They should look for a better way to honor our fallen heroes and agitate for whatever they are agitating instead of punishing the people they seek to liberate,” he said.
“They can organise symposia and lectures where people can brainstorm on the way to develop the region instead of these destructive actions.
“If they kill everybody and destroy the economy of the region, what and who exactly will they govern?” he queried.
