Simon Ekpa Officially Released

A Nigerian activist working in local politics in Lahti was released

The Central Criminal Police confirms that it suspects the man arrested in Lahti on Thursday of a crime in Finland, but does not comment further on the matter at this stage. The man was released later on Thursday.

ON THURSDAY, DURING THE DAY, THE POLICE arrested Simon Ekpa , a separatist from Lahti, from his private apartment in Lahti. Ekpa was interrogated for a few hours, after which he was released.

Helsingin Sanomat's reporter had arranged an interview at Ekpa's apartment in the center of Lahti, when he ran into the officers of the Central Criminal Police in the house.

"The interview will move into the future," said the KRP policeman.

"Krp is doing its job here."

A few hours later, HS's cameraman witnessed how plainclothes police escorted Ekpa out of the apartment building in Lahti.

CRIMINAL INSPECTOR Tommi Reen from the Central Criminal Police confirmed to HS on the phone that on Thursday, the KRP had a police operation in a private apartment in the center of Lahti in connection with the ongoing preliminary investigation.

According to Reen, the police arrested one man from the apartment. Reen confirms that the KRP suspects the arrested man of a crime in Finland.

At this stage, he does not comment on the criminal title or open the case further. So far, it is not known what the preliminary investigation by the Central Criminal Police concerns.

Reen did not confirm the identity of the arrested person to HS, but spoke only on a general level about the arrest and the operation in the apartment located in the center of Lahti.

According to HS, the police operation in Lahti lasted several hours on Thursday.

Reen said later on Thursday evening that the suspect was interrogated for a few hours after the arrest. After this, the suspect was released.

"The person being questioned today is suspected of a crime. We will return to the title on Friday", Reen commented.

HS has not reached Ekpa to comment on the arrest.

EKPA is a local politician of the coalition in Finland. He is a member of the coalition council and represents his party in the public transport board of the Lahti region.

Ekpa is an influential player in the separatist movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and pushes for the independence of Biafra, located in southeastern Nigeria. He has called on people on social media to boycott Saturday's presidential election in Nigeria.

The Nigerian government has declared the Biafra independence movement illegal.

Lahti's Etelä-Suomen Sanomat newspaper reported on Thursday that Ekpa "doesn't hide the fact that he is participating in the elimination of government officials. He even leads the operation and acquires weapons”.

In an interview with Yle, Ekpa has claimed that he leads a rebel group from Lahti that wants to establish an independent state of Biafra in the southeastern part of Nigeria.

HS earlier reported that Ekpa publicly claims to have deputized the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separatist movement, Nnamdi Kanu , after he was arrested. He also claims to command IPOB's armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

However, some of those claiming to be members of IPOB or ESN accuse Ekpa of lying and misusing Kanu's name.

THE NIGERIAN administration is concerned that Ekpa's actions will jeopardize the country's elections, and Nigeria has asked Finland to intervene in Ekpa's activities. Last week, the Nigerian foreign minister invited the Finnish ambassador to a meeting because of the topic.

Jussi Nummelin , the team leader for Western and Central Africa at the Finnish Foreign Ministry , told HS a week ago that Finland shares the concern for security and condemns violence and incitement to it, as well as "actions that aim to prevent people from exercising their democratic rights".

Nummelin emphasized, however, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not an actual party in the case, but that if it is a question of suspected crime, the police in Finland have jurisdiction.