SIMON Ekpa, the Biafra nation crusader, has appealed his terrorism conviction and six-year prison sentence before a Finnish court.
According to BBC Pidgin, the Finnish prosecutor handling the case is, however, seeking a longer prison term, arguing that the six-year sentence imposed on Ekpa is insufficient for the terrorism-related offences.
News Point Nigeria reports that the Finnish Court of Appeal is expected to hear Ekpa’s appeal within the next three weeks.
Ekpa was arrested by Finnish law enforcement authorities in November 2024 and was subsequently charged with inciting terrorism and participating in the activities of a terrorist group.
In September 2025, the Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland sentenced him to six years in prison for terrorism offences.
The district court found Ekpa guilty of inciting terrorism and participating in the activities of a terrorist group.
The court said the pro-Biafra agitator had used his “significant social media following” to stoke tensions in Nigeria’s South-East between August 2021 and November 2024.
The court held that Ekpa was an influential member of a militant separatist movement whose goal was to actualise the carving out of a Biafra state from Nigeria.
The district court also ruled that Ekpa had supplied certain groups with weapons, explosives and ammunition “through his network of contacts in the region”, and found that he had encouraged his followers on social media platform X to commit crimes in Nigeria.
Ekpa was also convicted of aggravated tax fraud and violating the provisions of the Attorneys Act.
The convicted separatist leader is a self-acclaimed disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
In March 2025, the Federal Government designated Ekpa a “terrorism financier”.
