FG confirms mounting ‘Diplomatic Presure’ on Finland to arrest Simon Ekpa over South-East vi3lence
Pqconnect 
The President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government has confirmed the arrest of Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian-Finnish citizen and self-confessed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Finland.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a brief statement on Friday said that Simon Ekpa was arrested as a result of Nigeria’s “diplomatic pressure” on the Finnish government.
The statement reads, “The ministry wishes to confirm the arrest of Ekpa, a Nigerian-Finnish citizen and prominent leader of IPOB, by Finnish authorities on Thursday, November 21.
“He was charged with inciting t3rrorism and promoting vi3lence. The Finnish District Court of Päijät-Häme ruled to detain him on probable cause for publicly inciting crimes with terr3rist intent.
The Finnish authorities alleged that Ekpa used social media platforms to spread separatist propaganda, incite vi3lence and encourage illegal actions, which had caused significant disruptions in the South-East of Nigeria.
Finnish investigators had also linked him to incidents of vi3lence in Nigeria, which were believed to have been fuelled by his online activities.
The arrest of Ekpa follows sustained diplomatic pressure by the Nigerian government on Finland, to take action against his activities, linked to vi3lence and instability in the South-East of Nigeria.”
