Simon Ekpa, the acclaimed leader of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), alleged to be the armed wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has reportedly been arrested in Finland.
According to the BBC Pidgin Service, Finnish authorities detained Ekpa for alleged terrorist activities.
The District Court of Päijät-Häme in Finland ordered his detention, accusing him of inciting people to commit crimes with terrorist intent.
The court alleged that Ekpa spread separatist propaganda on social media and cited an incident dated August 23, 2021, in Lahti.
Alongside Ekpa, the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation reportedly arrested four other individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.
Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian municipal politician in Lahti, Finland, has been a controversial figure, consistently advocating for a separate country for the Southeast region of Nigeria.
His advocacy included enforcing a Monday sit-at-home order across the region, a policy that has been widely criticized for disrupting lives and economic activities.
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State recently called on the federal government to expedite efforts to repatriate Ekpa, accusing him of undermining the security of the Southeast.
Mbah condemned the sit-at-home order, attributing insecurity in the region to Ekpa’s directives.
Meanwhile, IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful has distanced the group from Ekpa’s actions, emphasizing that he is not a replacement for detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and condemning the sit-at-home policy as counterproductive.