Nigerian military authorities are praising the arrest of separatist leader Simon Ekpa in Finland on Thursday. Ekpa was arrested along with four others for alleged terror-related activities, including incitement to violence and terrorism financing in Nigeria.
In two separate statements late Thursday, Nigerian defense authorities lauded Ekpa’s arrest as a step toward his extradition to Nigeria and a validation of Nigeria’s bilateral relations with the international community.
Police in Finland arrested Ekpa along with four others on Thursday for suspected terrorism financing and inciting deadly violence in Nigeria’s southeast region using social media.
Finnish police are seeking a court order to extend their detention.
The arrest comes eight months after Nigerian authorities declared Ekpa a wanted man, and three months after they appealed to a visiting European Union delegation to extradite him.
Beacon Security and Intelligence analyst Kabiru Adamu said the authorities’ negotiations paid off.
“When such a bilateral conversation is held at that level, then you would’ve done the documentation that in most times would give you a good result,” Adamu said.
Ekpa was a leader of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, a group that advocates the southeast region’s split from the rest of Nigeria but has long since politically fragmented.
He rose to prominence following the arrest and incarceration of fellow IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, by Nigerian authorities in June 2021.
Using social media posts and broadcasts, Ekpa has been calling for a “no work day” in Biafra every Monday to demand Kanu’s release — a measure that some factions of IPOB have criticized.
Following Ekpa’s arrest, Kanu’s supporters within IPOB released a statement disassociating themselves from the Ekpa.
Security analyst Ebenezer Oyetakin said Ekpa’s extradition can’t come soon enough.
“One would’ve expected that when the sovereignty of a nation is being threatened by individuals or a group of individuals, that should be a wake-up call to that country’s leadership, particularly the security leadership,” Oyetakin said. “But we did not pursue this in a constructive and strategic diplomatic approach that it should be. But it is better late than never.”
The secessionist campaign in Nigeria’s southeast led to a civil war in 1967 that killed an estimated 1 million people, mostly from starvation.
In recent years, hundreds of people including security operatives have been killed there in renewed separatist agitation.
Adamu said it won’t be easy for Finnish authorities to extradite Ekpa to Nigeria.
“I doubt if we have an extradition agreement between Nigeria and Finland,” Adamu said. “And the fact that he has dual citizenship — in my understanding of international relations, it will be next to impossible for Finland to extradite him knowing that he’s likely to be tried for treason and terrorism. These are offenses that could even fetch a death penalty.”
Finland had previously investigated Ekpa for alleged financial crimes, including receiving money through questionable means.
It’s unclear if his arrest will spark more tensions in the region, but analysts say authorities must be on the lookout for a possible new Biafra separatist leader.
