Finnish Court Sentences Simon Ekpa To Six Years In Prison For Terrorism Offences

In a ruling delivered on Monday, the court found him guilty of inciting terrorism and participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

The court said Ekpa had used his “significant social media following” to stoke tensions in the South-East region of Nigeria between August 2021 and November 2024, a Finnish newspaper, Yle, reported.

According to the newspaper, the court also convicted him of aggravated tax fraud.

The three-member panel of judges, in a unanimous ruling, also stated that Ekpa was an influential member of a militant separatist movement whose goal was to actualise the secession of a Biafran state from Nigeria.

The district court, as reported by Yle, further stated that Ekpa supplied these groups with “weapons, explosives, and ammunition” through his network of contacts in the region, and that he was also found to have encouraged his followers on the social media platform X to “commit crimes” in Nigeria.

A long-term resident of Lahti and one-time local councillor, Ekpa reportedly committed the crimes from the Finnish city, according to the verdict, giving the Finnish court jurisdiction in the case.

He had denied all the charges in court.

However, the district court’s verdict is not final, as it can be appealed to a higher court.

Ekpa moved to Finland in 2007 as an athlete.