Lessons from Simon Ekpa’s incarceration

Tuesday’s six-year sentence on self-proclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and self-declared prime minister of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile (BRGIE), Simon Njoku Ekpa, by Päijät-Häme District Court, Finland has drawn attention to Nigeria’s judiciary, security and prosecutorial institutions. He was jailed for terrorism-related charges and aggravated tax fraud. In a nation where […]

Tuesday’s six-year sentence on self-proclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and self-declared prime minister of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile (BRGIE), Simon Njoku Ekpa, by Päijät-Häme District Court, Finland has drawn attention to Nigeria’s judiciary, security and prosecutorial institutions. He was jailed for terrorism-related charges and aggravated tax fraud.

In a nation where cases drag endlessly in court, it was gratifying that Ekpa, who was arrested on November 21, 2024 by Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), was investigated, tried, convicted and sentenced on September 1, 2025, just about eight months.

In its verdict, the court declared Ekpa guilty of using his significant social media following to stoke tensions in the South East region between August 2021 and November 2024, ordering armed wing of IPOB, Eastern Security Network (ESN) to bring about Biafran independence by force while supplying them weapons, explosives, and ammunition through his network of contacts. The court also convicted him for encouraging his followers through social media platform to kill security forces and defenceless civilians, and disrupting economic, political, social and cultural life of the people.

Ekpa, a long-term resident of Lahti and one-time local councillor, was born in Ebonyi State and moved to Finland in 2007 after a stint as a Nigerian athlete. His terror activities began when he was announced as director of IPOB’s pirate radio channel, Radio Biafra, after Kanu’s arrest and detention in June 2021. But shortly after, IPOB announced his disengagement over alleged refusal to sign rules of engagement guiding the radio station operations.

Irked by his removal, Ekpa floated own online radio station, formed Autopilot faction of IPOB and later declared himself the prime minister of BRGIE. He established Biafra Liberation Army (BLA), a murderous armed gang linked to terrorism, kidnapping, killings, raping, and trafficking in human parts in the South East.

Spurning Kanu’s appointed leadership and his directives to stop all pronouncements and enforcement of sit-at-home, Ekpa went solo, announcing he will no more be “taking orders anymore from DSS dungeon” where Kanu is being held. He took charge of the armed wing of IPOB, accusing Kanu of working with security agencies and government to undermine his powers, threatening to dethrone him as IPOB leader, adding: “Even if Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is released today, we will no longer take orders from him. He is out of his mind and as the Prime Minister, I am now in charge…I repeat, I am now in charge.”

But in the end, the long arm of the law caught up with him. This should send an alert to all perpetrators and sponsors of terrorism, banditry and other forms of criminality that there’s always a day of reckoning.

But it depends on whether the critical judicial, security and prosecutorial institutions will draw critical lessons particularly in the areas of thorough investigations, timely and diligent prosecution. There is need for urgent actions in eradicating delays and inefficiencies in the nation’s justice system.

The police should ensure compliance with legally required mandate to conduct preliminary fact-finding investigation and gather sufficient evidence that a crime has been committed and that a particular person committed it before making an arrest, except in cases of serious offences committed in the presence of an officer or other exceptional circumstances. This would be in line with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

Another issue is that Ekpa’s incarceration, while putting him out of circulation and denying his “troops” the oxygen they desperately need, leaves a vacuum in the leadership of the various armed fighters operating from camps scattered across the South East especially Imo, Anambra and Enugu states. Indeed, the ranks of his bloodthirsty armed comrades have been thrown into confusion.

His jail term should send enough proof that no perpetrator or sponsor of violence will go scot-free, no matter their location, even if they are enjoying the freedom of foreign government protection. All those who directly or indirectly participate in the destructive campaign of murder, arson, kidnapping, cannibalism, and economic sabotage should know that they would be caught and face the full wrath of the law.

Moreover, all non-state actors must know that no good comes from terrorising the very people they claim to be fighting for. In addition, the conviction and sentence of Ekpa sends the message that there must be a difference between activism, which aims to effect social or political change through non-violent, collective action, and criminality which involves breaking established laws.

We at Daily Trust again call on Nigerians, especially Igbos, to reject deceitful and poisonous campaigners of freedom who are quick to kill and vilify and brand all those who disagree with them as saboteurs marked for violent attacks.

Also, those who gave covert approval to Ekpa and his armed gangs should hide their heads in shame. No amount of lies, propaganda, or fraudulent appeals can shield a criminal enterprise built on fraud, bloodshed and deception from collapse.

No matter how genuinely aggrieved or feel short-changed, Nigerians should be wary of blindly following agitators who don’t care about the pain their murderous actions and theatrics are inflicting on citizens.

In the end, Ekpa’s debacle shows that all empires built on fraud, lies, violence and exploitation will inevitably collapse. Instead of adoption of manipulative tendencies, each should pursue their agitations through the pursuit of truth, justice, and peaceful struggle.