IPOB denies ties to Ekpa, warns govt against using conviction to mask Kanu trial

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has distanced itself from Simon Ekpa.

It also warned the federal government against linking his conviction in Finland to the ongoing trial of its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

In a statement on Monday, Emma Powerful, IPOB’s spokesperson, accused the federal government of using Ekpa’s conviction as a “smokescreen campaign” to derail Kanu’s case.

Daily Times earlier reported that the Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland sentenced Ekpa, a Nigerian-Finnish separatist agitator, to six years in prison for terrorism and tax fraud.

His charges were tied to his role in a faction of IPOB, which Nigeria designated a terrorist organisation in 2017 under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, welcomed the court’s verdict in a statement on Monday, describing it as a positive development.

But reacting to the government’s statement, IPOB warned that Ekpa is not a member of the group.

The group noted that attempts to link him to it “is a brazen fraud against truth and justice.”

“The world must know that the question of Simon Ekpa’s non-membership in IPOB is already judicially settled in Finland. IPOB under oath in a Finnish court testified that Simon Ekpa has never held any position in IPOB or ESN.

“Ekpa himself under oath described himself merely as a ‘content creator,’ admitted he disowned IPOB, and boasted that he would destroy IPOB,” Powerful said.

The group added that Ekpa created parallel entities such as the “Biafra Government in Exile,” “Biafra Liberation Army (BLA),” and “Biafra Defence Force (BDF),” which IPOB has consistently denied ties with.

“Any narrative linking Ekpa’s personal downfall to IPOB is therefore deliberate misinformation, a calculated lie, knowingly repeated to deceive,” IPOB stressed.

The group alleged that the Nigerian government’s move was a diversionary tactic designed to contaminate judicial proceedings ahead of the October 10 ruling on Kanu’s no-case submission before Justice James Omotosho.

“This is not justice. It is judicial hostage-taking — a weaponization of the courts to sustain persecution,” IPOB said.

It further appealed to the European Union, Finland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the United Nations to intervene and prevent what it called the perversion of justice.

“If you are true to your principles, you must also condemn this latest charade, an attempt to derail a fair trial by importing lies,” IPOB said.

The group also urged the United Nations to speak out, warning that silence in the face of weaponised judiciary is complicity.

IPOB reaffirmed its commitment to peaceful self-determination and said the Abuja trial was not about its legitimacy but about the persecution of Kanu.

“Simon Ekpa’s conviction is his burden and his alone. IPOB will never carry it,” the group declared.

“We warn Justice James Omotosho and the Nigerian judiciary: the eyes of the world are upon you.”