The federal government has lauded the conviction of Simon Ekpa for terrorism-related crimes.

On Monday, the Päijät-Häme district court in Finland condemned Ekpa to six years in prison for terrorism charges.

The court found Ekpa guilty of advocating terrorist acts and being affiliated with a terrorist organisation.

According to the court, Ekpa used his big social media following to incite instability in Nigeria’s south-east from August 2021 to November 2024.

Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, wrote on X that Ekpa’s conviction and punishment were a “major victory in the war against terror” in Nigeria.

“We welcome the news of Simon Ekpa’s conviction by a Finnish court for terrorism-related crimes, and his sentencing to six years in prison,” he wrote.

“A major victory for the Nigerian people in the collective fight against terror.”

Ekpa, who defines himself as a supporter of Nnamdi Kanu, the arrested leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been at the vanguard of the sit-at-home campaign in the southeast, a movement whose violent implementation has resulted in the deaths of citizens and security personnel.

After Kanu was deported to Nigeria from Kenya in June 2021, Ekpa was named Radio Biafra’s chief broadcaster.

Weeks later, IPOB announced Ekpa’s expulsion, claiming his failure to sign Radio Biafra’s terms of participation.

The development weakened IPOB’s ties with Ekpa, and the Finland-based lawyer later formed a separate secessionist group.

In November 2024, Ekpa was apprehended by Finnish police enforcement.

The district court later sentenced him to prison for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”.

In March 2025, the federal authorities named Ekpa as a “terrorism financier”.