The Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland has sentenced pro-Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, to six years in prison after finding him guilty of terrorism-related offences and aggravated tax fraud.

In a ruling delivered on Monday, the court held that Ekpa used his “significant social media following” to incite terrorism and support militant separatist activities in Nigeria’s South-East between August 2021 and November 2024, Finnish newspaper Yle reported.

The three-member panel of judges unanimously ruled that Ekpa was an influential figure in a separatist movement seeking the secession of a Biafran state from Nigeria. According to the court, he supplied militant groups with weapons, explosives, and ammunition through his contacts and also encouraged his followers on X to commit crimes in Nigeria.

Ekpa, a long-term resident of Lahti and a former local councillor, was also convicted of aggravated tax fraud. The court noted that although the crimes were committed in Nigeria, jurisdiction applied because he coordinated them from Finland.

Ekpa denied all charges during the trial. However, the ruling is not yet final, as he retains the right to appeal to a higher court.

Ekpa, who moved to Finland in 2007 as an athlete, has been a controversial figure, often linked to violent separatist agitation in Nigeria’s South-East.