The separatist activist in Nigeria is imprisoned by terrorism in Finland

A court in Finland has sentenced a controversial leader with a six -year separatist movement in prison after being convicted of terrorist crimes.

Simon Ikeba, a Finnish citizen of Nigerian origin, tried to “strengthen the alleged independence of the Piavra region in southeast Nigeria by illegal means,” according to the court documents that were available to BBC News Pidgin by his lawyer.

He also equipped armed groups with weapons and explosives through his network of communications, and the Bait Home Provincial Court ruled unanimously issued by a committee of three judges.

EKPA, a former province in the city of Lahti in Finland, denied the charges.

Parts of Southeast Nigeria have been subjected to instability for years due to the conflict between the separatist movement and the indigenous people in Piavra (IPOB) and the security forces.

It is unclear whether EKPA, who was also convicted of strict tax fraud, will appeal the ruling.

The court ruled that he participated in illegal activities between August 2021 and November 2024, and also used social media to incite crimes in Nigeria.

EKPA, who previously said he led a faction inside IPOB, was arrested at his home in Finland in February 2023.

In 2022, he was defined by an investigation of his BBC as one of the IPob media warriors, who were allegedly using social media to call for violence. He did not respond to the BBC requests to comment at that time.

IPOB was banned in Nigeria, and its leader, Nnamdi Kano, is being tried for terrorism in West Africa. He denies any violations.

The group was formed in 2012 as a peaceful movement, but it fired an armed wing in southeast Nigeria in 2020, saying it was doing this to defend the ethnic Ighou group.

However, its critics say it launched the violence that caused huge suffering.

The Nigerian government called for the delivery of EKPA, saying that he should face justice in West Africa.

In March of last year, the Nigerian army said that EKPA and 96 others are required for terrorism, violent extremism and separatist threats.

IPOB wants to be the southeast, part of the Niger Delta, their independent homeland, which they call Piavra.

The separatist campaign for the first time gained momentum in the 1960s, when the Igbu Army officer, Emika Odomijo Oujuko, announced the birth of Piavra after the killings in the south of the east in northern Nigeria.

But that attempt to secede ended after a bloody struggle for three years, which led to more than a million deaths of fighting, hunger and a lack of medical care.