By OBSERVERS TIMES
Lahti-based politician Simon Ekpa has been formally charged with terrorism-related offences, authorities confirmed on Friday.
Ekpa, a 40-year-old Nigerian-born entrepreneur, currently serves on Lahti’s public transit board representing Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s National Coalition Party. He has previously held positions on three other local administrative boards.
The Deputy Prosecutor General has charged Ekpa with public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent and participation in a terrorist group.
According to prosecutors, the charges relate to Ekpa’s activities aimed at re-establishing an independent state in Nigeria’s Biafra region, which was briefly independent in the late 1960s.
These charges are part of a broader investigation during which the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation detained five individuals. Four of those detained, suspected of financing terrorist activities, were subsequently released during the preliminary investigation.
Ekpa’s alleged offences are said to have occurred between August 2021 and November 2024. He is suspected of spreading separatist propaganda from his residence in Lahti. Finnish police are working in cooperation with Nigerian authorities, as Ekpa’s activities are believed to have incited violence and other crimes against civilians and officials in southeastern Nigeria.
Ekpa has been in custody since November 2024 and denies all allegations.
The case will be heard in the Päijät-Häme District Court in Lahti; however, a hearing date has yet to be scheduled.
