By KTH Daily Newsroom
A Finnish court has sentenced Simon Ekpa, self-styled Prime Minister of the Biafra Government in Exile, to six years in prison after finding him guilty of terrorism-related offences.
The Päijät-Häme District Court ruled on Monday that Ekpa actively participated in a terrorist organisation and used his vast social media reach to incite crimes for terrorist purposes.
According to the judgment, Ekpa, a long-term resident of Lahti and one-time local councillor, used his platforms between August 2021 and November 2024 to stoke violence in Nigeria’s southeast. The court found that he played an influential role within the Biafran separatist movement, which armed groups sought to advance by force.
The court further established that Ekpa facilitated the supply of weapons, explosives, and ammunition to militants through his network of contacts, while also encouraging followers on social media platform X to commit violent acts in Nigeria.
“These actions amounted to direct participation in terrorist activity,” the verdict said, stressing that Finland had jurisdiction because the crimes were orchestrated from Finnish territory.
Ekpa, who moved to Finland in 2007 as an athlete, denied all charges. But the court concluded that his conduct exceeded political expression and crossed into organised violence.
He was also convicted of aggravated tax fraud, though the six-year sentence covered all offences.
The ruling, however, is not final and may be appealed.
Ekpa’s sentencing marks a major blow to the Biafra Government in Exile, which he had positioned as an alternative authority to the Nigerian state while coordinating separatist agitation from abroad.