- Sources hints on prolonged interrogations
It seems to be end of the road for self-acclaimed freedom fighter and Biafran agitator, Simon Ekpa following reports of his arrest by the Finnish Police on Wednesday.
Reports from Helsinki, which is the capital and largest city of Finland, indicated that the 37-year old was arrested at his residence in Lahti, located in the southern part of the Nordic country.
Recently, his videos went viral on different social media threatening a boycott the general elections in South-East geo-political zone region and asking his foot soldiers to ensure enforcement of the order.
Sources quoted the Finnish daily, Helsingin Sanomat, as reporting that Ekpa was arrested and taken into custody by plainclothes police officers shortly before he was due to be interviewed by a filmmaker at his residence in Lahti, southern Finland.
Helsingin Sanomat, (Finnish: “Helsinki News”), a morning daily newspaper published in Helsinki, is the largest paper in Finland and the only one of substance that remains free of political-party control. The newspaper was founded in 1889 by Eero Erkko as the Päivälehti
Though it was not immediately clear why Mr Ekpa was arrested or when he would be released, the paper quoted reliable sources as hinting that the Nigerian-Finnish rabble-rouser may likely face prolonged interrogations, with officers saying they were only doing their job on the matter.
The arrest is coming on the heels of his intensified attempt to frustrate the Nigerian presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for February 25 with people and residents of the South-East region as his main target.
It would be recalled that amid reports of Ekpa’s activities from his base in Finland, the Federal Government, had through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvanainen, for an important briefing
Arising from the engagement, Pylvanainen had explained that having a dual citizenship of Nigeria and Finland, the need to take his rights into consideration was paramount.
However, assuring that the Finnish government was closely observing development to see how this fits into the country’s legal framework, the Ambassador described the issue as an irritant in the relations between Nigeria and Finland which are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations this year.
According to her; “This is something I want to make very, very clear. Finland condemns all violence and incitement to violence in all its forms. Political aims, of course, should be pursued through political means only. That is very clear.
“It stems from the fundamentals of our actions, it’s enshrined in our constitution, and we do really underline our support and the importance we see for these elections not only for Nigeria, but for the entire region. So we’re with you very much on that.”
The Ambassador further stated thus; “We share very much the concerns regarding the security situation in the southeast? Yes, there are problems in other parts of the country as well. But this is an issue that we are directly concerned with. This is an issue we have been discussing, we share the concerns.
“We have discussed the matter and as I mentioned, our law enforcement agencies are in touch and are cooperating. We do have this irritant, as you call it on our bilateral agenda.
“And it is a topic on which we have been cooperating, our authorities have been cooperating, there have been contacts between the law enforcement agencies of Nigeria and Finland on this topic.”
