Finnish prosecutors on Friday said they had charged a man with inciting terrorism online who a media report identified as Nigerian separatist leader Simon Ekpa.
Finlandโs National Prosecution Authority said in a statement that it had charged โa Finnish individual in a case involving suspected public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and participation in the activities of a terrorist group.โ
It added that the alleged crimes had been committed in the city of Lahti between 2021 and 2024 and were related to the suspectโs efforts to establish Nigeriaโs Biafra region as an independent state.
The prosecution authority did not name the accused but Finnish public broadcaster YLE identified him as separatist leader Simon Ekpa.
Ekpa โ who claims to lead the Biafra Republicโs government in exile โ was detained in November.
According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges.
Ekpa is known as a self-proclaimed leader of a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which is pushing for the independence of Nigeriaโs southeast, where a bloody civil war was fought in the late 1960s.
The dual Finnish-Nigerian national has also been a local representative for Finlandโs conservative National Coalition Party in the city of Lahti, north of Helsinki, where he has served on a public transport committee.
When Ekpa was arrested, Finnish authorities also requested that four other people be remanded in custody on suspicion of financing Ekpaโs activities.
On Friday, the prosecution authority said the prosecutor had decided to drop charges against four others in the case due to a lack of evidence.
Ekpa has been the subject of several of AFPโs fact checks in recent years over false claims and disinformation he has made in independence campaigning.
Alleged terrorism: Court admits videos of Kanuโs radio Biafra broadcasts
Nnamdi Kanu did not admit to inciting violence โ Family
AFP
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