Pro-Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa got leniency, as a Finnish court reduced his prison sentence to 4 years

Pro-Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa has received a reprieve from his previous sentence, as the Finnish Court of Appeal has reduced the prison sentence imposed on him from six years to four years while maintaining his sentence on terrorism-related charges.

A report from Finnish public broadcaster Yle on Thursday stated that an appeals court upheld the decision of the Päijät-Häme District Court that found Ekpa guilty of participating in a terrorist organization and openly inciting crimes for terrorist purposes.

The report read, “Ekpa, who moved to Finland from his native Nigeria in 2007, was declared by the district court to have participated in a terrorist organization and openly incited crimes for terrorist purposes.

“The charges relate to Ekpa’s alleged activities aimed at re-establishing an independent state in the Biafra region in southeastern Nigeria, which had become independent in the late 1960s.”

The appeals court reduced the sentence after considering the circumstances surrounding Ekpa’s activities, and noted that the situation in the Biafra region in southeast Nigeria closely resembled civil war but did not meet the definition of civil war, according to Yle.

Ekpa argued during the appeal that his involvement in the region’s political turmoil was not driven by terrorist intent.

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Prosecutors have also appealed the initial ruling, arguing that the six-year prison sentence did not adequately reflect the seriousness of the offence.

However, Thursday’s decision is not final and can still be appealed to a higher court.

The case relates to Ekpa’s activities between August 2021 and November 2024, when a district court ruled that he had used his large following on social media to stoke tensions in the Biafra region as part of efforts to establish an independent state in southeastern Nigeria.

Ekpa, who moved to Finland from Nigeria in 2007, is a long-time resident of Lahti and previously served on the Finnish city council, representing the National Coalition Party.

This development follows his sentencing in September 2025, when the Päijät-Häme District Court sentenced him to six years in prison for terrorism-related offenses and other crimes.

The court found him guilty of participating in a terrorist organization, inciting crimes for terrorist purposes, aggravated tax fraud and violating the provisions of the Lawyers Act.

The court also found that he had supplied arms, explosives and ammunition to armed groups through his network of contacts and encouraged his followers on X, formerly Twitter, to commit crimes in Nigeria.

Ekpa denied the allegations during the trial.

His arrest in Finland in November 2024 followed an investigation into alleged separatist activities related to efforts to create an independent Biafra state.

Biafra, in southeastern Nigeria, declared independence in 1967, sparking a civil war that lasted until 1970, when attempts at secession ended.