…Nigerians ask Finland to stop him
Activities of Finland-based out-of-bound member of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Simon Ekpa are putting the people of the South-East on tenterhooks, writes Akani Alaka.
He has been trending online and offline for reasons most people will regard as odious in the past few days. But for Simon Ekpa, the self-acclaimed spokesperson of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, the fact that he has become a topic of discussion is another evidence that his campaign for the realisation of Biafra Republic and campaign against the 2023 election in the South-East is gaining traction.
Indeed, he was excited, as he claimed, that he was able to end what he described as a distraction to agitation for the state of Biafra by the campaign for the 2023 presidency and the increasing popularity of Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi in the South-East. “@PeterObi & his fake campaign came to distract Biafra agitation, we promise them that Biafrans don’t need Presidency that all we need is Biafra, we also promise them that by December they will all be talking about Biafra. What is happening today? Go to their platforms!,” Finland-based Ekpa said on his Twitter handle on Sunday.
“All you see them talking is Simon Ekpa & Biafra. We have defeated, diverted their attention to promote Biafra. The remaining months, their energy will be channelled to fighting against Biafra freedom & at the end we have defeated them. The more they fight the more people repent…,” he said in the series of tweets.
Killed For Disobeying Stay-At-Home Order
Ekpa who claimed to be a lawyer and a former soldier in the Finnish Army had grabbed the attention of residents of the South-east and Igbo people in and outside of Nigeria following the killing of at least two persons in an early morning shooting by gunmen in Enugu city last Saturday. The gunmen said to be about 10 had also set a police van ablaze during their rampage.
The yet-to-be-identified gunmen believed to be enforcing the order had also on December 9 killed Prince Iheme, the older brother of Nollywood star, Osita Iheme. They also attacked the village where Alloy Ejimakor, one of the lawyers to IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, hails from where they set some buildings on fire.
The gunmen were reportedly enforcing a five-day sit-at-home order declared by Ekpa over the South-east. A video of Ekpa ordering people in the South-east states to stay at home from December 9 to 14 and another viral video displaying an AK-47 rifle with a voice note threatening death for anyone that violates the order had created panic across the South-east earlier in the week.
Ekpa had in several broadcasts on his social media platform insisted that the sit-at-home order would be enforced on the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th or 14th of December as part of efforts by IPOB to force the Nigerian state to agree to demands for the exit of the South-east from the federation to form the Biafra Republic.
The Ebonyi-born Finnish-based lawyer had also repeatedly expressed his determination to ensure that the election, which he described as a distraction to the demand for the Biafra Republic does not hold in the South-east in 2023. Therefore, the belief was that the five-day stay-at-home order was part of his efforts to frustrate the ongoing collection of Permanent Voter Cards in the South-east.
Not Speaking For Us
But the order for a five-day stay-at-home order was met with outrage from organisations, including IPOB which Ekpa claimed to be speaking for in the South-east. IPOB, in a statement by Emma Powerful, its spokesperson said, “Every Biafran resident in Biafra land should ignore such an order from untrained and brainless individuals whose agenda is to make Biafra agitation unattractive to our people. Every Biafran must go about their normal businesses.
He added that the order was aimed at creating insecurity and unnecessary hardship for the people of the South-east.
“How wicked! Again, everyone has his or her right to go and collect his or her PVC from their polling and registration centres without molestation. IPOB never boycotts elections and has nothing to do with Nigeria’s shambolic elections.
“Our people should be prepared and ready to confront any fool who dares to enforce such wicked sit-at-home. Moreover, ESN operatives and IPOB volunteers will be out on these dates to protect our people and the markets,” Powerful added.
Speaking in the same vein, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia also condemned the stay-at-home order. While warning Ekpa against issuing orders that hurt Igbo interests, Ohanaeze also called on the Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, and Senator Sam Egwu, to call Ekpa to order.
Kanu had also disowned the order, according to IPOB’s lead lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor. The lawyer in an update on his visit to Kanu in the Department of State Services, DSS, custody quoted the IPOB leader as saying anyone who obeyed the sit-at-home order is an enemy of the secessionist group.
The IPOB leader was also quoted to have said the stay-at-home order “are being declared and imposed by some criminal elements who have been paid huge sums of money by some faceless persons to blackmail and consequently destroy him and his IPOB movement.”
The lawyer in the post he posted on his Facebook page said, “Onyendu (Kanu) unequivocally stated that he has not ordered, any SIT-AT-HOME in Biafra land. He directs that all our people should go about their normal life and businesses without let or hindrance, so as not to destroy the socio-economic life of our people, which have become the envy of all.”
It was not known if the disapproval emboldened the people to disobey the order. But reports indicated that aside from the killings in Enugu and shootings in parts of Imo State last Friday, most people in the South-east went about their businesses.
Bernard Osiwu, a member of the Board of Trustees, at the Mgbuka Autos Market in Onitsha was quoted as expressing relief that the stay-at-home order failed to ground business and social activities in the South-east, especially in the yuletide season when traders are expecting to make bountiful sales.
“Over 70 per cent of revenues in the South-east come from trade and commerce and the Monday sit-at-home is already hurting our economy, and then asking us to go for five days lockdown on a stretch in this Christmas season, would have been a suicide mission.
“We can only appeal to the security agencies to beef up security around public facilities and marketplaces to enable people to go about their normal businesses on those said days. We have been wondering how we are going to survive the five-day lockdown when the video came out, but it was a relief to us as IPOB has dissociated itself from the video. So, we urge the police and other security outfits to be on the alert on those days,” Osiwu said in a newspaper interview.
On the contrary, Ekpa through his Twitter handle said the stay-at-home order was successful. He also said the success of the exercise indicated that Biafra would be realised in March 2023: “When the time comes, we will declare our exit & defend it. I am hinting this to those who may think that Nigeria made them through corruption & they want to fight against our freedom. You better remain silent & allow the revolutionary movement of Biafra freedom in 2023 to free Biafra people from over 100 years of bondage & slavery,” he said.
Kanu Disciple Gone Rogue
Analysts said what is clear from last week’s episode was that Ekpa, who usually describes himself as a disciple of Kanu has become a very dangerous fishbone in the throat of IPOB. Ekpa had been part of IPOB and participated in the group’s activities on Radio Biafra, the medium used to spread its secessionist messages and propaganda against the Nigerian government in the South-east.
Thus, when Kanu was re-arrested and returned to Nigeria last year, the smooth-talking Finnish Nigerian was announced as one of the broadcasters that would fill the vacuum he left behind on Radio Biafra. His appointment, IPOB said in a statement, was approved by Kanu from detention.
But he was removed a few days later over his refusal to follow laid down rules of operation in Radio Biafra.
“IPOB is a big movement, and cannot just change the rules because of one individual as this may set a bad precedence. Simon Ekpa is a hardworking Biafran whose immense contributions towards the restoration of Biafra are highly appreciated, but for not signing the code of conduct as a broadcaster on Radio Biafra, he may not continue to have the opportunity of broadcasting via the platform,” the secessionist group said in a statement.
In reaction, Ekpa lamented that he was suspended because of the absence of Kanu despite all that he had done for the group in the past.
“I will announce fundraising for ESN, announce protest, announce zoom meeting of IPOB when Mazi Nnamdi Kanu had his freedom. Almost all fundraising of IPOB families across the globe was announced by me, and flyers posted by me. But in the absence of MNK, some ‘efulefu’ are talking trash,” he said.
‘Dangerous Phase’
A few days later, the sacked Biafra Radio host ominously declared that the struggle for the actualisation of Biafra has entered its “dangerous phase,” on his Facebook page. “The Biafra struggle has entered the AUTOPILOT phase, a very dangerous phase that we have no control of what happens. To your tent oh Israel. I am Simon Ekpa, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s disciple on Biafra restoration. Changing the narrative of Yesterday,” he said.
As he said in the Facebook post, Ekpa, who maintains a large following on his various social media platforms has since then become uncontrollable by the leadership of Biafra. Aside from soliciting donations for Biafra agitation, Ekpa also frequently used his social media platforms to disseminate propaganda about alleged killings by ‘Fulani terrorists’ in the South-east, including once sharing a video where soldiers were being in the region. However, such claims were always later discovered to be false.
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Significantly, he also used his live broadcasts from social media platforms to counter IPOB, especially on the stay-at-home order. While IPOB had repeatedly said it was no longer asking people in the South-east to stay at home anytime Kanu was appearing in court, Ekpa had always come out to ask people to stay at home.
It was believed that the inability to completely stop the Monday stay-at-home which has been grounding social and economic activities in the South-east on the first working day of the week was because of the insistence of Ekpa.
Stop Now!
The Nigeria Xpress investigations revealed that Ekpa’s live broadcast enjoys wide listenership in the South-east.
He regularly milks the passion of the people of the region for justice over the treatment being meted out to Kanu to curry support and justify why he and not the other IPOB leaders should be listened to.
Though he is touting himself as a disciple of Kanu, members of the detained IPOB leader have not been spared from his vitriol in his broadcasts.
Thus, the Kanu family had in the letter on May 17, 2022, warned him against mentioning the detained agitator’s name in his broadcasts.
The Kanu family had in a letter signed by their lawyer warned they would also institute injunctive claims against Ekpa for civil injuries if he persisted.
But Ekpa had neglected the order as he continued to tout himself as a disciple of Kanu.
However, the leadership of IPOB is getting increasingly uncomfortable with Ekpa and will not want any association with him following his recent stay-at-home order.
In a statement last week, Powerful was angry at the spokesperson of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ogbonnia for referring to Ekpa as IPOB leader in the statement he issued on behalf of the socio-cultural group.
“We warn Dr Alex Ogbonnia and Ezeife never to address him as a former IPOB leader. For proper information, IPOB has had no other leader since its formation and will not have any other leader except Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu who is currently in DSS solitary confinement because of the liberation of Biafra nation.”
Danger To South East 2023 Aspiration, Kanu
There are also concerns that the sit-at-home order and the attendant violence being advocated for by Ekpa may be seized upon by the Federal Government to continue to keep Kanu in custody despite the court order for his release.
The lawyer to IPOB expressed this fear in his Facebook post last week while denouncing Ekpa’s stay-at-home order: “More importantly, that discerning minds should understand that the reason why the Federal Government of Nigeria has refused to obey the Court of Appeal order which directed his unconditional release non-further prosecution, and even refused to take any steps towards prosecuting their appeal before the Supreme Court, by failing to file relevant court processes before the court, is because they are relentlessly scouting around for possible items and loopholes to blackmail him, his IPOB movement and our people.
“Our people should never give or dignify them with such ignoble and inglorious opportunity. This is why our people must reject, denounce and fight to a standstill, all forms of criminality in our land which are being perpetrated by the enemies of our people.”
On their part, the Igbo Elders Consultative Forum in a press conference addressed by former Anambra governor, Chukwuemeka Ezeife last week warned that Ekpa and his supporters would truncate the 2023 election in the South-east and the momentum towards the region producing its first Nigerian president of Igbo origin: “The scheduled February 2023 presidential election will be historic in Nigeria because we are optimistic that patriotic and progressive Nigerians will elect Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party as the next president of this country in a free, fair and credible election; hence evil and wicked elements must never be allowed to use the purported sit-at-home order to truncate the next year general election.”
Dealing With Ekpa’s Problem
However, the Secretary of the Forum, Prof. Charles Nwekeaku, said the Federal Government can pull the rug off Ekpa’s feet by releasing Kanu from detention as ordered by the court. “The moment Kanu is released; no person will hide under IPOB and similar organisations to impose any draconian sit-at-home order on our people.
“We still ask the Federal Government to obey the unanimous and laudable ruling of the Court of Appeal and release our son, Mr Nnamdi Kanu,” he said.
Some analysts had also called on security operatives to rise to the challenge of protecting lives and property in the South-east, especially now that IPOB has condemned and distanced its members from Ekpa’s sit-at-home order.
However, some Nigerians are also asking the Finnish authorities to stop him from instigating violence back in his home country.
“Simon Ekpa must be reported to the Prosecutor General of Finland in Helsinki for his terrorist activities and murders including of women in Biafra land. And also must resist from using IPOB or ESN name from his terrorist activities being sponsor (sic) by the FG,” Powerful said in a tweet which mirrors similar calls by hundreds of others on Twitter as monitored by The Nigerian Express on Sunday.
But Ekpa seems not bothered by such calls as he was already planning his next action at the time of writing this story: “Immediately sit at home ends on 14th December 2022. The cleanup of Biafraland will start. We don’t want to see any Nigeria political poster, flyer, billboard or any road banner anywhere in Biafraland. Let us keep our street clean. 84 days to go. We move in wotowoto,” he said in a tweet on Sunday.
There are, however, fears that the move may be another plot to resume attack on INEC facilities by gunmen which the police have always linked to IPOB.
Seven offices of INEC have been attacked by gunmen in the South-east who seem to be carrying out Ekpa’s bid to ensure that the 2023 election did not hold in the region in the past four months. The attacks have raised fears about holding the 2023 general elections in the region. Last Monday, another office in INEC was attacked by the gunmen
The question is who will save the South-east from Ekpa?