Simon Ekpa was accused of fostering terrorism online by Finnish authorities on Friday.
This comes as the prosecuting authorities said that, citing insufficient evidence, the prosecutor had chosen to withdraw charges against four additional defendants in the case.
The National Prosecution Authority of Finland made this revelation in a statement.
“A Finnish individual in a case involving suspected public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and participation in the activities of a terrorist group” was charged by NPA, the statement said.
It said that the suspect’s attempts to make Nigeria’s Biafra area an independent state were connected to the alleged crimes, which were conducted in the city of Lahti between 2021 and 2024.Â
The prosecution authority did not name the accused, but Finnish public broadcaster YLE identified him as separatist leader Simon Ekpa.
Ekpa, a self-styled leader of the Biafra Republic’s government in exile, was detained in November.
According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges.
The dual Finnish-Nigerian national has also been a local representative for Finland’s conservative National Coalition Party in the city of Lahti, north of Helsinki, where he has served on a public transport committee.
