SOUTHEAST STAKEHOLDERS WANT NNAMDI KANU RELEASED, SIMON EKPA JAILED
SOUTHEAST STAKEHOLDERS WANT NNAMDI KANU RELEASED, SIMON EKPA JAILED Reactions have continued to trail the arrest of the self-acclaimed Prime Minister of Biafra, Simon Ekpa, with some South-East indigenes calling for his sentencing in Finland.On Thursday last week, the Finnish authorities arrested Ekpa alongside four others and they were subsequently detained by the Päijät-Häme district court for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.”The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, NBI, disclosed that Ekpa, a dual citizen of Finland and Nigeria, is suspected of public exhortation to commit offences with terrorist intent. The charges also include suspicions of financing terrorism.Leading the investigation, the detective, Chief Inspector Otto Hiltunen, said Ekpa is suspected of using his social media platforms to incite violence against civilians and public authorities in Southeastern Nigeria.“The suspect has furthered his efforts from Finland, resulting in violence and other crimes in Southeast Nigeria,” Hiltunen said in a statement.Ekpa’s arrest comes amid the worsening insecurity situation in the Southeastern part of Nigeria, which has seen armed men terrorising the region under the guise of pushing for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra.The armed men have been causing mayhem in the Southeast while claiming to be enforcing the Monday sit-at-home order that was first initiated by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, as a measure to get the Nigerian Government to release Nnamdi Kanu.But IPOB, which suspended the sit-at-home, had severally distanced itself from Ekpa, stressing that he’s not their member.Commenting on the arrest, Abia South Senator, Eyinnaya Abaribe said Kanu’s release remained the solution to tackling insecurity in the Southeast and not Ekpa’s arrest.Abaribe said Kanu’s release would reveal the genuine Biafra agitators from the criminals masquerading as gunmen.He said: “You want Biafra fine, but do you get Biafra by killing the same Biafrans you want? How does murdering people, killing people, going around killing policemen, spreading mayhem, and burning police stations help you?“Everyone one of them claims that it’s because Nnamdi Kanu is incarcerated that why the Southeast is experiencing insecurity but it will end when Nnamdi Kanu comes out, then we now know who is a genuine agitator and a criminal.“When Kanu comes out, then he will know his followers. Nobody will have a reason to say we are burning down this police station or killing this person.”On his part, a retired captain of the United States, US, Army, National Defence and Military Strategist, Bishop Johnson said the proper handling of Ekpa’s arrest by the Finnish government might have an impact on his incitement of violence and bloodletting in the Southeast.Speaking with DAILY POST, Ambrose said those funding Ekpa’s operations in the Southeast will also stop if he’s held accountable in Finland.He said: “Simon Ekpa’s arrest will have an impact on the Southeast depending on how it’s handled by the Finnish government.“If the Finnish government holds Ekpa and his accomplices – those sponsoring his operations, if they hold him accountable in Finland not here in Nigeria, it will have an impact.“The incitement coming from him will no longer be viable and those sponsoring him will stop, the incitement will end; that is if he’s held accountable in Finland.”He, however, observed that Ekpa’s arrest might take a negative turn in the Southeast if extradited to Nigeria and detained like Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.Johnson said: “If he’s extradited to Nigeria, there is the possibility that instead of his arrest having a positive impact, it might even lead to more violence because Nigeria as a country is very notorious for its abysmal human rights records.“If you have a situation where Ekpa is extradited to Nigeria and is kept in the same condition Nnamdi Kanu is kept in, there would be those offended that two Igbo sons are…