The Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland has sentenced Simon Ekpa, a self-acclaimed Biafra agitator, to six years in prison after finding him guilty of terrorism-related crimes.

Ekpa, a long-term resident of Lahti and former local councillor, was convicted on Monday on multiple counts, including inciting terrorism, participating in the activities of a terrorist organisation, aggravated tax fraud, and violating the Attorneys Act.

According to Finnish newspaper Yle, the three-member panel of judges ruled unanimously that Ekpa used his “significant social media following” to stoke unrest in Nigeria’s South-East region between August 2021 and November 2024.

The court found that Ekpa was an influential member of a militant separatist movement pushing for the creation of a Biafra state. He was also said to have supplied armed groups with weapons, explosives, and ammunition through his network of contacts, while encouraging his followers on social media platform X to commit crimes in Nigeria.

“The accused was not only a propagandist but also an active enabler of violence,” the judges ruled, stressing that illegality and lawlessness cannot be cloaked as political struggle.

While the ruling is significant, it is not final and can be appealed to a higher court.

Ekpa, who moved to Finland from Nigeria in 2007 as an athlete, denied all charges during the trial.

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