Simon Ekpa, a Lahti municipal politician and self-declared Biafra separatist, faced the Päijät-Häme District Court on Friday as Finland’s first-ever terror trial began under the country’s amended criminal statutes.
State Prosecutor Sampsa Hakala urged the court to impose a minimum six-year prison term, alleging that Ekpa used social media to incite violence in Nigeria’s southeast and coordinated arms procurement for armed groups from Finland.
Ekpa, a dual Finnish-Nigerian citizen, arrived in Finland in 2007 and has served as a local representative of the National Coalition Party.
He emphatically denied all terrorism-related charges—participation in a terrorist group and public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent.
Defense counsel Kaarle Gummerus argued that the court must scrutinize whether Ekpa truly orchestrated or directed violent acts in Biafra, challenging the reliability of information sourced from Nigeria.
Friday’s session started with a preliminary hearing, followed by the prosecution presenting social media messages Ekpa allegedly posted on platform X (formerly Twitter).
Additional charges—aggravated tax fraud and breaches of Finland’s Attorneys Act—are slated for after the Midsummer break. The court has reserved multiple days for evidence presentation, underscoring the trial’s significance for Finnish legal precedent and international counterterrorism cooperation.