Few hours after his arrest, a Finland court has sent separatist agitator, Simon Ekpa, to prison for spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.

According to reports, a district court of Päijät-Häme remanded him after the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested him alongside four other men over alleged terrorist offences.

The self-declared Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government In-Exile was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.

Also, according to a local report, the Central Criminal Police in Finland confirmed the arrest in a statement on its website on Thursday.

The police said the main suspect was arrested “on suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent”, while, “four other persons are suspected of financing the aforementioned activity.

All five suspects of the crime have been arrested during the beginning of the week.”

International cooperation has been carried out during the preliminary investigation.

“Claims will be heard in Päijät-Häme district court today, November 21″, the statement added.

There have been calls for the arrest of the separatist following his alleged involvement in the Sit-At-Home that has relatively crippled economic activities in the South East

At the time of filing this report, the fate of Ekpa is hanging in Finland

The National Bureau of Statistics(NBS), says one out of four individuals between ages 15 years and above would like to leave their communities permanently or at least temporarily.

The NBS said this in its General Household Survey- Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 2023/2024 unveiled in Abuja on Thursday.

The report showed that more men aged 15 years and above wanted to leave their communities representing 31. 2 per cent compared to women at 19.3 per cent.

It said among age groups, 34.5 per cent of people between 20 and 30 years of age would like to migrate.

“This was followed by those between ages 15 and 18 at 26.9 per cent and those between ages 31 and 64 at 25 per cent.

“Among people ages 65 and above, only 6.5 per cent said that they would like to leave their communities.”

The report said that among those who would like to migrate, 35.3 per cent would like to move to Abuja and 26.6 per cent would like to relocate to another country.

The report revealed that those in the Southern zones predominantly reported that they would like to relocate to another country, while individuals in the Northern zones preferred to move to Abuja or another state.

The NBS said that nationally, 45.4 per cent of households had at least one former household member who had relocated within and outside the country.

According to the report, half of those former household members are females.

The report said that marriage was the main reason why former household members had relocated at 28.2 per cent, followed by those who had gone to live with relatives or friends at 21.2 per cent.

“This was followed by those who went to look for/start a new job or business at 14.6 per cent .

It showed that urban households were less likely to have a former household member who had migrated, with a reported share of 37 per cent compared to 49.3 per cent of rural area households.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the GHS-Panel is Nigeria’s nationally representative longitudinal household survey which began in 2010 and had implemented five waves of the survey.

The panel nature of the data enables tracking household-level changes in critical areas of welfare, work, and socio-economic outcomes over time, yielding insights for policy.

Nigerian Defence Headquarters, Abuja, has stated that Simon Ekpa, the self-proclaimed prime minister of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) will be extradited to the country to face charges against him.

Speaking on the arrest of Ekpa in a short press statement made available to SaharaReporters, the Director of Defence Information, Brig Gen Tukur Gusau, said the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Chris Musa, was pleased with Ekpa’s trial.

Gusau wrote: “CDS is happy with his arrest in Finland, with the hope this will be a step towards his extradition to Nigeria so that he will face justice.”

Recall that the Finland district court in Lahti had ordered the remand of Simon Ekpa on probable cause for public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent in Nigeria.

Ekpa was accused of using social media platforms to spread separatist propaganda linked to IPOB, a group advocating for the secession of southeastern Nigeria.

The court alleged that the offences dated back to August 23, 2021.

Finland authorities have also investigated Ekpa in the past for alleged financial crimes, including the collection of funds through questionable means.

The head of the investigation, crime commissioner Otto Hiltunen of the Central Criminal Police, stated, “The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians and authorities as well as other crimes in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria. The man has carried out this activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”

However, the remaining four suspects, accused of financing terrorism, are believed to have committed the crime in August 2022, also in Lahti.

These individuals, who are of foreign background, were born in the 1960s and 1970s.

Helsingin Sanomat (HS) reports that five suspects were arrested during the first week of the investigation, with police highlighting international cooperation during the preliminary phase.

It was previously reported that authorities suspect Simon Ekpa of being involved in the crime of collecting money unlawfully. In February 2023, Ekpa was arrested in a private apartment in Lahti.

Ekpa was later released the same evening after being questioned.

At the time, police also disclosed that they had received multiple reports about Ekpa’s activities on social media. This prompted an investigation to determine whether he could be linked to other crimes.

Simon Ekpa is known in Finland as a local politician affiliated with the National Coalition Party.

He has served as a deputy councillor and represented the party on the Lahti region’s public transport board.

Meanwhile, from his home in Lahti, he has used social media to call for election boycotts and support for Biafra’s independence efforts.