Simon Ekpa supporters now threatening Nigerians in Finland — Report

Some Nigerians in Finland are reportedly living in fear following the arrest and detention of Mr Simon Ekpa, the self-acclaimed Prime Minister of utopia Biafra Government in Exile.

According to sources, Nigerians in the European country are afraid of commenting on the arrest of Ekpa over fear of being attacked by his criminal supporters.

A Nigerian community leader, who doesn’t want to be quoted for fear of victimisation, noted that the Igbo community was “gravely affected” by the violent acts of the secessionist group.

He said, “Everyone is afraid to speak about Ekpa’s arrest. The key people in Finland and the Igbo community at large are not ready to lend their voices either.”

The source noted that some persons were being accused of reporting Ekpa to the police and were being threatened.

“A particular person they accused now, they’re after him. This happened before he (Ekpa) was even remanded. What will happen when they imprison him? Everyone is afraid. These people are very deadly,” the source said.

Another resident, who also asked not to be quoted, said there was tension among Nigerians in the country.

“People don’t want to speak about Ekpa for fear of being hunted by his followers. We believe that they will hunt whoever comes out to talk about their leader. But the Finnish Government is trying to get rid of the situation.”

NewsBand reported that the gang leader of the autopilot group was arrested on Thursday alongside four others on terror-related activities by the Finnish authorities.

Mr Ekpa was remanded in prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme on suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.

Finland police in a statement said Ekpa was arrested “on suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent”, while four others were taken into custody “for financing a terrorist crime”.

“The detention demands are related to the preliminary investigation, in which a Finnish citizen of Nigerian background, born in the 1980s, is suspected of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.

“The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland by means that have led to violence against civilians and authorities as well as other crimes in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria”, the statement reads.

Also, the head of the investigation, Crime Commissioner Otto Hiltunen from the Central Crime Police said that “Ekpa has orchestrated this activity, among other things, on his social media channels”.

“Four other persons are suspected of financing the aforementioned activity. All five suspects of the crime have been arrested during the beginning of the week.

“International cooperation has been carried out during the preliminary investigation,” the statement added

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