The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has distanced itself from the recent conviction of Simon Ekpa in Finland, insisting that his actions and affiliations are entirely his personal responsibility.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, IPOB described any attempt to link the group to Ekpa as “a brazen fraud against truth and justice.” The group noted that a Finnish court had already clarified the matter, with IPOB testifying under oath that Ekpa never held any position in the organisation or its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
According to IPOB, Ekpa himself admitted in court that he was only a “content creator,” publicly disowned the group, and even vowed to destroy it. The movement further accused him of creating splinter entities, including the so-called “Biafra Government in Exile,” “Biafra Liberation Army (BLA),” and “Biafra Defence Force (BDF),” all of which it said it repudiates.
The group alleged that the Nigerian government was exploiting Ekpa’s case in a smear campaign aimed at influencing judicial proceedings against its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu. IPOB described the prolonged delay in Kanu’s trial as “judicial hostage-taking” and warned against what it called the introduction of “irrelevant and extraneous narratives” into the case.
Calling on the international community — including the EU, US, UK, UN, and Finland — to intervene, IPOB urged transparency to prevent what it described as the “malicious misuse” of Ekpa’s conviction.
“Simon Ekpa’s conviction is his burden and his alone. IPOB will never carry it,” the statement read. The group reiterated that it remains a lawful, peaceful movement committed to self-determination and cautioned that any judgment against Kanu based on falsehoods would be “rejected by history and the international community.”