By Adadareporters
The self-styled Prime Minister of Biafran Government in Exile, Mr Simon Ekpa, “was a destructive agent paid to infiltrate and destroy the IPOB peaceful movement for Biafra self-determination”.
Emma Powerful, the spokesman of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), stated this on Friday while reacting to Ekpa’s arrest in Finland.
According to IPOB, Ekpa, a former Nigerian athlete, was never a member of the group, adding that he is not a registered member of the group’s chapter in Finland.
Powerful accused the Nigerian and Finnish governments of shielding Ekpa from arrest.
The statement read, “Simon Ekpa was never and is not an IPOB member, let alone being a leader in IPOB. IPOB has some family units in Finland, and Simon Ekpa is not a registered member of any IPOB unit in Finland or any other IPOB unit globally.”
IPOB also clarified that Ekpa’s modus of operations was not in tandem with the philosophy of IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, adding that IPOB is a peaceful movement to seek Biafra Independence via a supervised UN referendum.
Powerful said, “IPOB is a peaceful global movement that has never taken to violence or arms struggle in two decades of our self-determination struggle.
“It was unfortunate that some innocent Biafrans, being passionate for the restoration of the stolen sovereignty of the Biafran Nation, thought that Simon Ekpa was genuinely sympathetic to the Biafra cause.
“Sadly, they had to learn the hard way that he was a destructive agent paid to infiltrate and destroy the IPOB peaceful movement for Biafra self-determination. He recruited violent criminals to destabilize the South East Region in 2021.”
He affirmed that the Simon Ekpa-led group “has no alliance, affiliation or relationship with IPOB family worldwide,” adding that “He recruited his criminal gangs who have been terrorising the Biafran territory since 2021.”
IPOB accused the Nigerian government and politicians that contracted Simon Ekpa of making efforts to tag the violent crimes of their agent on IPOB “just to blackmail and demonise the genuine and peaceful Biafra self-determination struggle of the Biafran people led by the IPOB.”
Speaking on the alleged arrest of Ekpa in Finland, Powerful urged all IPOB members and lovers of Biafra freedom to remain calm and focused on their objective to restore the sovereign state of Biafra.
Ekpa was Thursday arrested by law enforcement agents in Finland. He was reportedly sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”. Ekpa was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also arrested four other men over alleged terrorist offences.
