By Suleiman Anyalewechi
Simon Ekpa, the dreaded separatist factional leader has been convicted and sentenced to six years jail term by a Finnish court.
The three-man panel of Jurists at the Paitat-Hame District Court, Finland, on Monday found Ekpa ,the founder of the murderous Auto-Pilots militia guilty of terrorism-related charges,and other criminal activities including tax fraud and jailed him.
The Source reports that the Ebonyi state born Finish national was, in December 2024, arrested by Finish authorities over alleged involvement in terrorist financing and promotion in the South East region of Nigeria.
He was however formally arraigned before the Piajat-Hame District Court in May 2025 on charges bordering on terrorism, inciting people to commit crimes with terrorism intent, and spreading of separatist propaganda through the social media.
Most of the offences listed against him were committed between August 2021 and November 2024 while residing in Lahti , Finland .
Although Ekpa had pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him by the Finish National Bureau of Investigation ,the trial Judges unanimously found him guilty of actively participating ,and sponsoring the activities of terrorist groups , inciting the public to commit crimes for terrorist purposes, engaging in aggravated tax fraud ,and violating the provisions the Finish Lawyers Act .
According to the prosecution , between August 2021 and November 2024, the Auto-Pilots militia leader sought, among other things, to promote the Independence of Biafra region in South East region of Nigeria through illegal and violent means.
“He used social media to gain a politically influential position and exploited the crisis within a key separatist movement in Nigeria to assume a significant role in it”, the prosecution argued .
Similarly, Ekpa was accused of playing a central role in organizing and transforming the separatist movement into an increasingly structured entity.
They argued that several armed groups were established under the movement controlled by Ekpa.
” Ekpa equipped these groups with weapons, explosives and ammunition through his network of contacts. He was also considered to have encouraged and incited his followers on X( formally Twitter ) to commit crimes in Nigeria”, the prosecution
noted.
Ekpa came to national consciousness after the Nigerian Government renditioned Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, from Nairobi, Kenya, to Abuja, Nigeria. On Kanu’s arrest, Ekpa introduced himself as his disciple and gave the impression he has stepped into Kanu’s shoes.
However, he fell bitterly out with IPOB when members of the group accused him of going contrary to their rules and protocols. He refused to fall in line, and flouted even Kanu’s orders especially, as it concerns the sit-at-home order, inflicted on the South East by IPOB to put pressure on the Federal Government to release Kanu.
The Group did away with the every-Monday order which took many lives violently, destroyed businesses and properties and the economy of the Region. But Ekpa insisted on the order and atimes, stretched it to one month.
The auto-pilot group, which he formed as a rival group to IPOB, in order carry out his activities, is allegedly, mainly responsible for the continued blood shed in the South-east.
Neither IPOB nor the FG has reacted to the conviction of Simon Ekpa.
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