Simon Ekpa, self-professing disciple of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has been arrested by the authorities of Finland barely hours to Nigeria’s make or mar presidential election, on Saturday.
Ekpa and his Autopilot faction of the IPOB are suspected to be behind the violence in the South East and the no-election campaign in the area.
Information from the Central Criminal Police disclosed that the former Radio Biafra anchorman was arrested in a police operation in a private apartment in the centre of Lahti.
Tommi Reen from the KRP confirmed to a Finland news outlet, HS, that the operation was in connection with an ongoing preliminary investigation but did not comment further on the matter.
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Godfrey Onyeama, had recently invited the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvänäinen, to a meeting and handed down Nigeria’s request for the intervention of Finland in curbing Ekpa’s alleged violent activities.
The former athlete and lawyer, who is based in Finland where he is also a citizen, is well known for his acscerbic and inciting comments against the Nigeria.
According to HS, the police escorted the separatist out of his apartment in Lahti.
The platform claimed that they had gone to Ekpa’s residence for an interview but to their surprise, the Finland police, KRP, answered when the HS team rang the separatist bell.
The HS said the KRP prevented their team from entering Ekpa’s apartment and said that the interview would be moved “to the future”.
A Finnish official at its embassy in Nigeria, who pleaded anonymity confirmed Ekpa’s arrest
Simon Ekpa claims to be fighting for self-determination for the Biafra state but ironically the people of the South-east for whom he is supposedly fighting have borne the brunt of his violent campaign, resulting in multiple deaths and destruction of properties.