A Finnish court has sent separatist agitator, Simon Ekpa, to prison for spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.
A district court of Päijät-Häme remanded him after the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested him alongside four other men over alleged terrorist offences.
The self-declared Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government in exile was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.
According to a local report, the Central Criminal Police in Finland confirmed the arrest in a statement on its website on Thursday.
The police said the main suspect was arrested “on suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent”, while “four other persons are suspected of financing the aforementioned activity. All five suspects of the crime have been arrested during the beginning of the week.
“International cooperation has been carried out during the preliminary investigation. Claims will be heard in Päijät-Häme district court today, November 21,″ the statement added.
There had been calls for the arrest of the separatist following his alleged involvement in the Sit-At-Home that has relatively crippled economic activities in the South East.
The Finnish government had Tuesday said it had started acting on the complaint by the Nigerian government against a Nigerian – Finnish citizen, Simon Ekpa, accused of leading brutal pro-Biafra secessionist campaigns in Nigeria’s South-east region.
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Elina Valtonen, said in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, during a press conference she addressed alongside her Nordic counterparts, that Mr Ekpa’s case was now before Finnish courts.
“We have taken this up and discussed this with the Nigerian authorities… and the entire process is within our judicial system,” Ms Valtomen said, informing the gathering that the issue came up during a meeting with Nigerian government officials on Tuesday.
She did not provide details of the legal process.
Thisday.
