Finnish Court Upholds Simon Ekpa’s Terrorism Conviction, Cuts Jail Term To 4 Years

A Court of Appeal in Finland has reduced the six-year prison sentence imposed on Simon Ekpa, a Biafra separatist agitator, to four years while upholding his conviction on terrorism-related charges.

According to Finnish newspaper Yle, the appeal court delivered its judgment on Thursday, October 15, 2026, affirming the Päijät-Häme District Court’s decision convicting Ekpa of terrorism-related offences.

The district court had sentenced Ekpa to six years in prison last year after finding him guilty of terrorism-related charges and aggravated tax fraud.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Ekpa appealed the judgment at a higher court, seeking a review of his conviction and sentence.

However, the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s decision on his guilt but reduced his prison term from six years to four years.

Ekpa, a Nigerian-born Finnish citizen, has been associated with the Biafra separatist movement and has been accused of activities linked to the campaign for the secession of southeastern Nigeria.

He became a prominent voice in the campaign for an independent Biafra, a separatist cause rooted in the region’s failed attempt to break away from Nigeria in 1967.

Decades later, the agitation for Biafran independence gained renewed attention through the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), founded by Nnamdi Kanu.

Following Kanu’s arrest in Kenya and his return to Nigeria in 2021, Ekpa emerged as another influential figure in the separatist campaign, using online broadcasts and social media to reach supporters.

His activities included calls for election boycotts and support for the Biafran independence campaign. His influence later became the subject of a criminal investigation in Finland. Finnish authorities detained Ekpa in November 2024 as part of an investigation into alleged terrorism-related offences connected to the separatist campaign in south-eastern Nigeria.

Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation said the case involved suspicions of publicly inciting crimes for terrorist purposes and contributing to the activities of a terrorist group.

The investigation was conducted in cooperation with the federal government because investigators believed that the alleged consequences of the activities occurred in Nigeria.

In May 2025, Finland’s Deputy Prosecutor General charged Ekpa with participating in a terrorist group and publicly inciting crimes for terrorist purposes.

The allegations concerned activities between August 2021 and November 2024, which prosecutors said were aimed at securing Biafran independence through unlawful means.

However, Ekpa denied committing the offences.

On September 1, 2025, the Päijät-Häme District Court sentenced Ekpa to six years in prison after finding him guilty of participating in a terrorist organisation and publicly inciting crimes for terrorist purposes.

The court also convicted him of aggravated tax fraud and of violating Finland’s Lawyers Act.

According to the court’s findings, Ekpa used his substantial social media following to intensify tensions in south-eastern Nigeria. The court also said he was involved in a separatist movement that established armed groups seeking Biafran independence by force.

The judgment stated that he supplied weapons, explosives and ammunition to those groups through his network of contacts and encouraged followers on X to commit crimes in Nigeria.

Ekpa’s activities had also attracted the attention of Nigerian security authorities.

In 2024, the Nigerian military declared him wanted as part of a wider terrorism-related operation. Following his arrest in Finland, the Nigerian government sought his extradition. The case became significant because it involved alleged offences committed from Europe but linked to violence and insecurity in Nigeria.