He was preparing for interview: How Simon Ekpa was arrested a week after Nigeria summoned Finnish Ambassador
Simon Ekpa, the factional leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who have been coordinating the activities of the separatist group since the arrest of its leader Nnamdi Kanu in June 2021, was arrested at his base in Lahti, Finland on Thursday, February 23, 2025.
Ekpa’s arrest is common a week after the Nigerian government summoned the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvanainen, over the activities of the separatist leader.
Business Day reported that Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Goeffrey Onyeama met with the Finnish Ambassador on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, to discuss the threats by the factional IPOB leader.
“We thought it was important for us to have this chat with you to let you know that, of course, he’s living in the comfort of his home there in Finland and we know that we have been in touch with your good self,” Onyeama said.
From his base in Lahti, a Finland city and municipality of about 120,000 people, according to a 2016 data by the United Nations, Simon Ekpa coordinates IPOB and its armed unit Eastern Security Network (ESN), and has been issuing threats, posting inciting messages via his social media accounts and issuing sit-at-home orders that have negatively affected the economy of Southeast Nigeria and claimed many lives.
The latest among his many threats was his declaration that there won’t be an election in the southeast where one of the three leading candidates Peter Obi of the Labour Party hails from.
Finland’s largest subscription newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat (HS) said its crew was at Ekpa’s home for a scheduled interview when he was arrested and led away by officials of the country’s National Bureau of Investigations.
“We had arranged an interview at Ekpa’s apartment near the Lahti market square,” the newspaper reported.
HS also reported that Tommi Reen of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation confirmed that the KRP had a police operation in a private residence in the centre of Lahti on Thursday in connection with an ongoing pre-trial investigation.
“Police apprehended one man from the apartment. The KRP suspects the arrested man of a crime, but does not comment at this point on the criminal title,” Reen told the newspaper.
The Finnish Police is yet to respond to Neusroom’s email seeking updates on Ekpa’s arrest.
Ekpa, a 37-year-old lawyer from Ebonyi state in Southeast Nigeria, has reportedly been living in Finland since 2007.
