The Federal Government on Monday described the conviction of Finland-based pro-Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, as a watershed moment in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism.
Ekpa, who has been at the forefront of the violent sit-at-home campaign in the South-East, was sentenced to six years imprisonment by the Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland for terrorism-related offences.
The court found him guilty of promoting terrorism and supporting a terrorist organisation by exploiting his large social media following to incite unrest in Nigeria’s South-East between August 2021 and November 2024.
In a statement on X, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the judgment vindicated Nigeria’s consistent position that Ekpa used his platform to unleash terror on innocent citizens.
“We welcome the news of Simon Ekpa’s conviction by a Finnish court for terrorism-related crimes, and his sentencing to six years in prison. This is a major victory for the Nigerian people in the collective fight against terror,” Idris wrote.
The minister added that the ruling was a relief to “countless innocent Nigerians whose lives and livelihoods were disrupted by Ekpa’s incitement and orchestration of violence through IPOB’s terror activities.”
According to him, Ekpa’s campaigns left a trail of destruction: families shattered, businesses destroyed, children orphaned, and communities forced to live in fear.
“Hundreds of lives were lost, and many more maimed, in pursuit of a destructive and unlawful agenda that sought to undermine the peace, unity, and sovereignty of our nation,” Idris stressed.
Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, rose to prominence after Kanu’s extradition in 2021 when he briefly served as lead broadcaster for Radio Biafra. His relationship with IPOB later collapsed, and he went on to float a splinter secessionist movement.
He was arrested in November 2024 in Finland and subsequently designated as a terrorism financier by the Nigerian government in March 2025.
The minister said Finland’s decision underscored the importance of international cooperation in tackling global terrorism and sent “a clear message to extremists everywhere that justice will catch up with them.”
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