Simon Ekpa, the pro-Biafran activist and factional leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, will not be released on bail anytime soon, according to the Finnish authorities.
The Finnish police made this known in an interview with The Punch amidst the mixed reactions that have trailed his recent arrest.
Ekpa, the magazine reports is the leader of the Auto Pilot faction of IPOB accused of killing people, including security agencies in the south east Nigeria. He was arrested on November 21 by the Finnish police, which has detained him in preparation for his trial next year May for alleged international terrorism and terrorism financing.
The mainstream IPOB led by Nnamdi Kanu has since denied him saying he’s on his own.
Instructively, the Finnish police accused Ekpa of sponsoring and financing terrorism in “south east” Nigeria by collecting money in violation of the Finnish Money Collection Act. Four other suspects are currently being detained with him.
The alleged crime, the investigators said, was committed between 23 August 2021 and 18 November 2024 in Lahti, a town in Finland.
According to the Finnish police, bail is not allowed for persons accused of committing such offences, signaling that Ekpa will remain in prison for six months before his trial, analysts said.
Speaking, a Senior Detective Superintendent at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, Mikko Laaksonen, said bail cannot be granted to the pro-Biafra leader because of the severity of the offence he allegedly committed.
“Finnish criminal procedure/coercive measures do not recognise bail procedure,” Laaksonen said.
Adding that “Our procedure is based on, depending on the case, remand or travel ban as coercive measures for limiting freedom of movement for persons suspected of offences to which such measures are applicable.”
Ekpa’s trial, the Finnish authority said, will commence in May 2025 at the District Court of Päijät-Häme in the North European country.
Recall that Ekpa became the leader of the secessionist IPOB, which seek a separate country from Nigeria, following the arrest, in 2021, of Nnamdi Kanu, the defacto leader of the group by the Nigerian government.
Kanu is currently standing trial for alleged terrorism.
Discover more from The Source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
