Authorities in Finland have arrested Biafran separatist leader, Simon Ekpa, local News agency in Finland, Helsingin Sanoma(HS) has confirmed.
Ekpa, a local NCP councilor in the city of Lahti, Finland has been advocating for and financing an armed uprising in his native Nigeria. The activities of his followers have led to countless bloodshed and destruction of properties, mostly in the Eastern part of Nigeria.
The HS, a Finland News outlet, said they had discovered Simon was arrested when they visited his residence for an interview but met the Finland police, KRP there. The KRP prevented their team from entering Ekpa’s apartment and said that the interview would be moved “to the future”.
Ekpa’s arrest comes after Nigerians all over the world signed a petition appealing to the Finnish government, Nigerian Government and the European Union to arrest Ekpa, the brain behind the sit-at-home order in the South-East.
Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, in had repeatedly ordered the people of the South-East to observe a sit-at-home and asked them to boycott the country’s general elections billed for Saturday.
His repeated sit-at-home order has been marked by bloodshed and destruction of lives and properties in the region by its enforcers.
Ekpa recently extended the sit-at-home order with plans to obstruct the country’s planned elections starting February 25, 2023. His followers are known to always defy law and order enshrined by the Nigerian state.
Using social media, Ekpa has called on millions of people to boycott upcoming Nigerian general elections, set to take place this Saturday, 25 February. His Twitter video, in which he tells people to stay in their homes and not cast their ballots, has been viewed over a million times.
