From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has commended the Finnish Central Criminal Police over the arrest of Simon Ekpa.
Ekpa is alleged to be responsible for the insecurity in the South East part of the country where several persons including military and security agencies personnel have been killed and property worth millions of naira destroyed.
The CDS, who has always called for the arrest of Ekpa, expressed the hope that he would be extradited to the Nigeria to face justice.
The Director Defence Media Operations(DMO), Major General Edward Buba, made this known in a WhatsApp message in response to journalists questions on military reaction to the arrest of Ekpa.
According to Gen. Buba,“The CDS has always called for the arrest of Simon Ekpa following his deep involvement in fueling terrorism in South East Nigeria.
“We are delighted about his arrest, and glad that the international community is partnering with Nigerian in our fight against terrorism.
Also reacting to the arrest of Ekpa.
“ The CDS is happy with his arrest in Finland, with the hope this will be a step towards his extradition to Nigeria so that he will face justice.”
Ekpa, a Finnish-Nigerian separatist leader, was yesterday arrested in Finland alongside four others on suspicion of terror-related activities, including incitement to violence and terrorism financing on Thursday.
According to local publication Ye, Ekpa was remanded in custody by the Päijät-Häme District Court on charges of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.
The publication reported that the Finnish Central Criminal Police confirmed the arrests in a statement yesterday,noting that the other suspects were apprehended for allegedly financing terrorist activities.
It was gathered that Ekpa, the factional leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and four others were sent to prison by Finland Police on charges of alleged terrorist activities.
Ekpa, who identifies as the “Prime Minister” of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile is being held on suspicion of public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent.
Finland District Court of Päijät-Häme sent Ekpa, who holds Nigeria and Finland dual citizenship and also Lahti municipal politician will remain in prison on probable cause and on suspicion of publicly inciting people to commit crime with terrorist intent.
The court charges said Ekpa is allegedly spreading separatist propaganda on social media and the offence was committed on August 23, 2021, in Lahti, Finland.
In addition to Ekpa, Finnish National Bureau of Investigation also ordered the arrest of four other men on suspicion of terrorist offences.
Born in 1985, Ekpa had before now declared that he was leading a separatist group in Nigeria with the aim of inaugurating the Independent State of Biafra comprising the South East states of Nigeria.
Finland police said they believe Ekpa is promoting his secessionist campaign from Finland, an act that has led to violence against civilians and authorities, as well as other crimes in the South East region of Nigeria.
“He is carrying out his activities on social media channels, for example,” Detective Chief Inspector Otto Hiltunen of the National Bureau of Investigation said.
In one of the videos produced by Ekpa during the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria, he was seen sitting in front of computer camera in his kitchen in Lahti,where he declareed that the election would not hold in Biafra region (South East region), warning that nobody dare participate.
In the video, Ekpa also said he approved the use of violence to ensure compliance with the order.
He was quoted as saying,”I condone violence against Nigerian government forces. It is a question of self-defence. They are constantly attacking us and they have committed numerous war crimes. We are forced to defend ourselves.
“My address has received about 800,000 views on the instant messaging service, X (formerly Twitter), he posted.
According to Finland police, Ekpa’s detention demand is related to one pre-trial investigation of reports that he has been publicly inciting people to commit crime with terrorist intent.
The National Bureau of Investigation had demanded in a press statement for the arrest of one person on suspicion of publicly inciting terrorist intent to commit a crime, and four persons on suspicion of financing terrorist offence.
All the five suspects were arrested in the beginning of this week.
While Ekpa lives in Lahti, two of the other five suspects are in Helsinki, and one of them doesn’t have documentation in the population register, authorities said.
The police said during investigation, Ekpa and the other arrested suspects were found to be carrying out international coordination.
In June this year, Nigeria Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, had accused Finnish government of giving Ekpa protection. He called on the Federal Government to explore diplomatic options to make sure that Ekpa was arrested.
“We have repeatedly complained about the issue of Simon Ekpa. He is in Finland and the Finnish government is giving him all the support to carry out what he is doing, Musa claimed.
“Due to his activities, people are being killed here and they (Finland government) is not doing anything. This is democracy. If the European Union support democracy and this type of thing is happening and they don’t take any action, then they don’t mean well for Nigeria.
“We have said clearly that we need to diplomatically find means of getting Ekpa to stop what he is doing. He must be arrested, he must be prosecuted.”
This is the second time the authorities in Finland would be arresting Ekpa. It is not clear how this one will end.
In 2023, the National Bureau of Investigation arrested him on suspicion of money collection offence. He was later releaseed same evening.
Ekpa’s political party in Finland, the National Coalition Party, has remained mum on his membership.
Currently, he is the representative of the National Coalition Party appointed on the Lahti Region Public Transport Committee, but recently he has not participated in the meeting of the board, according to report.
Timo Elo, party secretary of National Coalition Party declined to comment on Ekpa membership of the party.
“We will not tell you who is or not our member. It’s confidential,” Elo said.
When asked by local reporters if Ekpa would be expelled from the party for being suspected of commiting terrorist offence, Elo said, the party probably may consider the matter.
Pirjo Mäljä, Executive Director of the Häme National Coalition Party, did not comment on Ekpa, or about the fact that he is holding a position of trust.
Mäljä said he wants the police and the judiciary to complete their job, after which they would assess the situation.
Court has not convicted Ekpa, so he is still suspected of a crime. The pre-trial investigation and legal process of the case could take years.