Finnish Police Charges Simon Ekpa With Terrorism Incitement, Participation In Terrorist Group

Nigerian-born Simon Ekpa, a National Coalition Party (NCP) Lahti municipal politician in Finland has been charged with inciting terrorism and participating in terrorist group.

Further, he is being suspected of
disseminating separatist propaganda that has led to violence.

According to report by Yle foreign media, Finnish police have investigated the case together with Nigerian authorities.

The Deputy Prosecutor General decided to charge Ekpa with public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent and participation in a terrorist group.

According to the prosecutor, the charges relate to his activities aimed at re-establishing an independent state in Nigeria’s Biafra region. It was briefly independent in the late 1960s.

The charges are part of a larger investigation during which the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation detained five people. Four of them were suspected of providing financing for terrorist offences. These four were released during the preliminary investigation.

The charges were filed on Friday morning. The case will be heard in Päijät-Häme District Court in Lahti. A hearing date has not yet been set.

Ekpa is suspected of committing the crimes between August 2021 and November 2024.

He is suspected of spreading separatist propaganda from his home in Lahti. The police are investigating the case together with Nigerian authorities, as Ekpa’s activities are believed to have led to violence and other crimes against civilians and authorities in southeastern Nigeria.

Ekpa has been in custody since last November. He has denied committing any crimes.

Meanwhile, Ekpa, a 40-year-old Nigerian-born entrepreneur, is still listed as a member of the city’s public transit board, representing Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s National Coalition Party. He has formerly served on three other local administrative boards.