Finnish court sentences Nigerian separatist leader to six years in jail

A court in Finland has sentenced the controversial leader of a Nigerian secessionist movement to six years in prison after finding him guilty of terrorism-related charges.

It ruled that Simon Ekpa – a Finnish citizen of Nigerian origin - had attempted to promote the independence of the so-called Biafra region of Nigeria by illegal means.

He heads the banned Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) group, which has allegedly been responsible for killings and abductions of hundreds of people in Nigeria's south-east.

The region was briefly independent in the late 1960s, but its attempt at secession ended after a three-year bloody civil war.

That conflict led to the death of more than a million people, mostly from fighting, starvation, and a lack of medical care.

Monday’s unanimous verdict by a panel of three judges found Ekpa had also equipped armed groups with weapons and explosives through his network of contacts in the region.

It added that he had used his significant social media following to stoke tensions in the Biafra region between August 2021 and November 2024.

The judges said Ekpa, a long-term resident of Lahti and one-time local councillor, committed these crimes from the Finnish city, meaning a local court had jurisdiction in the case

Ekpa, who was born in Biafra and moved to Finland as an athlete in 2007, has denied all the charges.

The district court also convicted him of aggravated tax fraud. It is unclear if he plans to appeal the decision in a higher court.