Why Finnish court cleared IPOB, jailed Simon Ekpa–Attorney
Joseph Irikefe
A member of the defence team of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Barrister Christopher Chidera, on Tuesday, explained why a Finnish court exonerated the group but convicted self-styled IPOB Prime Minister, Simon Ekpa.
Chidera, who is part of Nnamdi Kanu’s Global Defence Consortium, in a statement, explained that the Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland convicted Ekpa for incitement, tax fraud, and professional misconduct, none of which IPOB is accused of.
He raised serious concerns about what he called “malicious propaganda” being orchestrated against Nnamdi Kanu.
He noted “the malicious article published on iBrandTV and authored by Marshal Bassey under the false and misleading headline ‘Simon Ekpa’s Conviction: How the Igbo Biafra Dream Died a Natural Death’,” on Monday, describing it as a “hatchet piece”.
“Fabrication collapsed under the weight of verifiable judicial records. It is propaganda designed to dampen the resilient spirit of Biafrans but instead exposes the intellectual emptiness of its author and his sponsors.”
He explained that the Finnish Court Judgment did not find IPOB wanting while it sentenced “Simon Ekpa personally to six years’ imprisonment on charges of participation in a terrorist organisation, incitement, tax fraud, and professional misconduct.”
He added, “The Court never mentioned IPOB in its ruling. IPOB testified under oath that Ekpa was never a member and held no office in the movement.
“Ekpa himself admitted under oath that he was only a ‘content creator’ and had long disowned IPOB. If IPOB were guilty, Finland had the perfect opportunity to indict it. The Court declined to do so because no evidence exists against IPOB. This silence is itself an exoneration.”
He frowned at what he called the article’s “reckless attempt to bury the Biafra dream through falsehood”, describing it as “pitiful”.
He said the author of the article “deliberately ignored the legal reality that IPOB is a lawful registered movement in Finland, operating transparently within the ambit of international law.
He retested that, “IPOB is not, and has never been, a terrorist group. IPOB is a global self-determination movement anchored in law and justice. Any further attempts to defame IPOB will be met with lawsuits, international petitions, and reputational demolition.”