Finnish court sets May 2025 deadline for Simon Ekpa’s trial

-

Pro-Biafran separatist leader Simon Ekpa is set to stand trial in Finland by May 2025, Finnish authorities have announced.

Ekpa, who was arrested alongside four others on suspicion of terrorism-related activities, remains in custody at the Päijät-Häme District Court. Senior Detective Superintendent Mikko Laaksonen of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation confirmed the trial timeline. The date for bringing up possible charges by the prosecution was set by the district court to May 2025,” he said, according to Punch.

Laaksonen added that both Ekpa and Finnish authorities could request a re-evaluation of the case in two weeks if necessary.

A Finnish citizen of Nigerian descent, Ekpa faces serious allegations, including incitement to violence, terrorism financing, and public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent.

Finnish police allege that Ekpa used social media to incite violence in Nigeria’s South-East region, targeting civilians and authorities.

His activities reportedly contributed to economic losses exceeding ₦4 trillion due to enforced sit-at-home orders and growing insecurity in the region.

The arrests were part of a broader investigation requiring international cooperation.

While Finnish authorities have not disclosed further details about cross-border efforts, Ekpa’s arrest has drawn attention due to his influence on the ongoing unrest in Nigeria.

Self-proclaimed “Prime Minister” of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile, Ekpa gained notoriety for his calls to boycott Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, which led to violence and unrest. Finnish Central Criminal Police have linked him to coordinated attacks on civilians and security forces in Nigeria since 2021, with social media playing a pivotal role in incitement and fundraising for his alleged activities.

Ekpa’s arrest has been hailed as a major step in addressing violence in Nigeria’s South-East. The Federal Government expressed its intent to monitor the legal proceedings in Finland closely.

Kimiebi Ebienfa, spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, described the arrest as “a critical step in addressing IPOB’s activities and neutralising the influence of transnational actors on our national security.”

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South, also welcomed the development.

Speaking on Channels Television, Abaribe criticized Ekpa’s methods, saying, “The arrest of Simon Ekpa is very welcome because this will tell those purveyors of violence instigated by Simon Ekpa that he is not serious. He has only exploited the Biafran agitation to perpetrate crimes.”


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Message Sent

Popular posts from this blog

Meet the world's hottest transgender - Amiyah Scott

-
Image
Yep, all that used to be male. Her name is Amiyah Scott, but she was born ‘Arthur Scott’ in New York in 1988. She's a transgender model and make-up artist. Arthur started the process of turning into a woman when he was 17. He got breast augmentation, booty shots, light filler in the cheeks etc etc.  by linda ikeji       
Read more

Man shot dead by police officer who tried to jump fuel queue in Lagos; police identifies officer responsible

-
Image
  A police officer has gunned down a Lagos resident who prevented him from jumping the queue to buy fuel at a Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) filling station at Obalende in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State.    Toheeb Eniafe was in the queue to get petrol on Wednesday evening, May 1, when two men, said to be police officers, attempted to drive into the station to buy petrol even though they were not in the queue to get the product.  This attempt by the police officers to jump the queue was met with stiff resistance from people in the queue who had been waiting for hours.   Eniafe was at the forefront of the resistance, telling the men to join the queue like everyone else.   This degenerated into a physical fight and one of the men shot Eniafe before fleeing the scene.  An angry mob was said to have chased and caught up with one of the officers but he later escaped after firing shots in the air.  On Thursday, May 2, the La...
Read more

Ugandan President Museveni claims IMF, World Bank and Western countries purposely keep African countries in perpetual poverty (video)

-
Image
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has claimed that the West and various international monetary lenders keep Africa in continuous poverty. Speaking at the World Bank’s International Development Association summit for African Heads of state, held in Nairobi, Kenya, Museveni took a bold swipe at world leaders saying that most of Africa’s problems predicted over 60 years ago were a result of philosophical, ideological, and strategic economic mistakes. He claimed that a fundamental African problem is that aid from the World Bank and other Western bodies was majorly for profiteering. “The crisis which is in Africa today is because of philosophical, ideological, and strategic economic mistakes which we have been talking about since the 1960s. It is not an accident when you see the crisis in many African countries, the collapse of States. We predicted this in the 1960s – philosophical, ideological, and strategic mistakes. I don’t have time to amplify each one but I was very happy to hear the...
Read more