PUNCH
The arrest, on Thursday morning, by the Finnish authorities of a popular pro-Biafra separatist agitator, Simon Ekpa, in his residence in faraway Lahti was received with rapturous joy and relief in many parts of the South-East and Nigeria as a whole.
It is gathered that Ekpa’s eventual arrest followed relentless pressure mounted by the Federal Government and Igbo leaders on the Finland government over his incitive comments and sit-at-home orders to the people of South-East.
Before his arrest on Thursday, thousands of Nigerians from across the world signed a petition appealing to the Finnish government, Nigerian Government and the European Union to arrest Ekpa, the factional Indigenous People of Biafra leader behind the sit-at-home order in the South-East.
Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple of the detained leader of the IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, had repeatedly ordered the people of the South-East to observe a sit-at-home and asked them to boycott the country’s general election beginning from Saturday.
His repeated sit-at-home orders led to orgies of violence, bloodshed and destruction of lives and property in the region by the enforcers.
But, the Igbo community in Finland in January decried what it termed “seditious statements” of Ekpa from Lahti in Finland and called on the Finnish authorities to restrain the separatist agitator.
In a statement signed by one Kingsley Orji, the Igbo community called on both governments of Finland and Nigeria to commence an immediate investigation of Ekpa with a view to bringing him to justice.
The statement read in part, “There is no place on the planet where people can simply hide, incite violence, and escape punishment. Therefore, the Igbo community in Finland is calling for action as follows:
“That Simon Ekpa is immediately restrained, investigated, and made to face the full wrath of the law both in Finland and in Nigeria.
“Based on (the) Belgian law on universal jurisdiction, that the Finnish authorities should take jurisdiction right away and stop Mr. Simon Ekpa from continuing to incite violence against life and people, murder of any kind, mutilation, cruelty, and violations of the right to life.
“All relevant authorities should deploy all diplomatic channels to ensure that Mr. Simon Ekpa and his group are prevented from causing further damage.”
The biggest boost to the advocacy was to come through the Nigerian government when it brought its full diplomatic weight to bear on the matter. The PUNCH on February 15, 2023, reported that the Federal Government summoned the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvanainen, over the “hate speech and incitive comments” by Ekpa.
At the meeting with Pylvanainen, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said Ekpa’s action was fast becoming a threat to the forthcoming elections, and that the Federal Government would not take it lightly with him and the Finland government if nothing drastic was done.
Connect with us on our socials: