From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Federal Government has hailed the conviction of the pro-Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, by the Finnish Court on terrorism and other related offences.
Ekpa was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison by a Paijat-Hame district court in Finland for terrorism offences.
Responding to the judgment, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), in a statement yesterday, commended the Finnish authorities for supporting Nigeria in the fight against insecurity, describing it as a signal for future collaboration.
The short statement read: “We receive the good news of the conviction of the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, Simon Ekpa, by the Finnish court.
“His conviction for the charges of terrorism and other related offences filed against him by the Finnish government is a confirmation that Ekpa had influenced and committed heinous crimes against the Nigerian people, especially in the South East.
“We commend the Finnish authorities for supporting Nigeria in the fight against insecurity and see this as a signal of future collaboration. Appropriate further actions would be taken upon receipt and understudying a copy of the judgement of the court,” Fagbemi stated.
Ekpa was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison by a Paijat-Hame district court in Finland for terrorism offences.
In a judgment delivered yesterday, the court found Ekpa guilty of inciting terrorism and participating in the activities of a terrorist group.
According to YIe, a Finnish newspaper, the court said Ekpa had used his significant social media following to stoke tensions in Nigeria’s South-East region between August 2021 and November 2024.
In a unanimous judgment, the three-member panel of judges also said Ekpa was an influential member of a militant separatist movement, whose goal was to actualise the carving out of a Biafra state from Nigeria.
The district court also noted that the convict had supplied certain groups with weapons, explosives and ammunition through his network of contacts in the region, and he was also found to have encouraged his followers on social media platform X to commit crimes in Nigeria.
