{"id":18277,"date":"2024-11-22T13:07:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T13:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18277"},"modified":"2024-11-22T13:07:34","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T13:07:34","slug":"simon-ekpa-is-not-our-member-ipob-deny-self-acclaimed-prime-minister-of-bgie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18277","title":{"rendered":"Simon Ekpa is not our member \u2013 IPOB deny self-acclaimed prime minister of BGIE"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has dissociated themselves from the self acclaimed Prime Minister of Biafra Government in Exile (BRGIE) Simon Ekpa.<\/p>\n<div class=\"theea-content_10\" id=\"theea-542079157\">\n<div style=\"left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"><noscript><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TmFLfxQ3mzI?rel=0\" style=\"top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" scrolling=\"no\" allow=\"accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;\"><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Eagle Online reports that Ekpa, a Finnish-Nigerian separatist agitator and self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government In-Exile, was arrested in Finland alongside four other individuals for alleged terror-related offenses.<\/p>\n<p>Local reports indicate that Ekpa was remanded in custody by the P\u00e4ij\u00e4t-H\u00e4me District Court on charges of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement released on Thursday, November 21, the Finnish Central Criminal Police confirmed the arrest of five individuals suspected of terrorist activities.<\/p>\n<div class=\"theea-content_7\" id=\"theea-1848740514\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%202108%20950'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS.png 2108w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-640x288.png 640w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1280x577.png 1280w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1024x461.png 1024w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1536x692.png 1536w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-2048x923.png 2048w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-150x68.png 150w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-450x203.png 450w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1200x541.png 1200w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-768x346.png 768w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1320x595.png 1320w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 2108px) 100vw, 2108px\" width=\"2108\" height=\"950\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS.png\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS.png 2108w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-640x288.png 640w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1280x577.png 1280w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1024x461.png 1024w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1536x692.png 1536w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-2048x923.png 2048w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-150x68.png 150w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-450x203.png 450w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1200x541.png 1200w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-768x346.png 768w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/National-growth-LS-1320x595.png 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2108px) 100vw, 2108px\" width=\"2108\" height=\"950\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>According to the police, Simon Ekpa, identified as the main suspect, was detained \u201con suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent,\u201d while the four others were apprehended \u201cfor financing a terrorist crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The police statement further revealed: \u201cClaims will be heard in P\u00e4ij\u00e4t-H\u00e4me district court today, November 21.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It elaborated that the investigation centers on \u201ca Finnish citizen of Nigerian background, born in the 1980s, suspected of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Also Read:<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cThe police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland by means that have led to violence against civilians and authorities as well as other crimes in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The statement quoted the head of the investigation, Crime Commissioner Otto Hiltunen from the Central Crime Police as saying that \u201cthe man has carried out this activity, among other things, on his social media channels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour other persons are suspected of financing the activity above. All five suspects of the crime have been arrested at the beginning of the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInternational cooperation has been carried out during the preliminary investigation,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>However, reacting to his arrest, IPOB in a statement on Friday by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, accused Ekpa of recruiting violent criminals to destabilize the South East Region.<\/p>\n<p>Emma noted that the infamous BGIE led by Simon Ekpa created a violent group known as the Biafra Liberation Army.<\/p>\n<p>IPOB however disowned him noting that Ekpa is never a registered member of IPOB.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe attention of the global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been drawn to the news of the arrest and subsequent claim by the infamous Prime Minister of Biafra Government in Exile (BRGIE) Simon Ekpa of being an IPOB member.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo set the records and facts straight, Simon Ekpa has never been a member of the global IPOB family movement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cContrary to the deliberate and malicious misinformation from the Neo colonialist news agency, the BBC, that Simon Ekpa is an IPOB leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSimon Ekpa has never and is not an IPOB member, let alone being a leader in IPOB. IPOB has some family units in Finland, and Simon Ekpa is not a registered member of any IPOB unit in Finland or any other IPOB unit globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMazi Nnamdi Kanu established IPOB as a peaceful movement to seek Biafra Independence via a supervised UN referendum.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIPOB is a peaceful global movement that has never taken to violence or arms struggle in two decades of our self-determination struggle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though the various some regimes in Nigeria have provoked us, we have remained resolutely peaceful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was unfortunate that\u00a0 some innocent Biafrans being passionate for the restoration of the stolen sovereignty of the Biafran Nation, thought that Simon Ekpa was genuinely sympathetic to the Biafra course.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSadly, they had to learn the hard way that he was a destructive agent paid to infiltrate and destroy the IPOB peaceful movement for Biafra self-determination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe recruited violent criminals to destabilize the South East Region in 2021. He is a self acclaimed prime minister of a small criminally minded group called the Biafra Government in Exile (BGIE).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe infamous BGIE led by Simon Ekpa created a violent group that call themselves the Biafra Liberation Army.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have perpetuated various violent acts against the civilian populace of the Eastern Region in the name of Biafra agitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIPOB family worldwide repudiated that violent system to achieve Biafra freedom and sovereignty severally through our numerous press statements.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis (BRGIE) group and the Nigerian Army are responsible for many kidnappings, rapes, forceful disappearances, killings, and burning of homes in the South Eastern region.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUndoubtedly, Simon Ekpa has claimed responsibility for the violent actions of his criminal gang.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Simon Ekpa led group has no alliance, affiliation or relationship with IPOB family worldwide. He recruited his criminals gangs who have been terrorizing the Biafran territory since 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe politicians that contracted Simon Ekpa have been making strenuous efforts to tag the violent crimes of their agent on IPOB just to blackmail and demonize the genuine and peaceful Biafra self-determination struggle of the Biafran people led by the IPOB.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIPOB is by this press release calling on BBC News and Finnish Authorities to note that Simon Ekpa has never and does not have any\u00a0 relationship whatsoever with IPOB in Finland or any other unit globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe should not be associated with IPOB because IPOB does not support violent agitation that he represents.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIPOB is a peaceful movement that has adopted civil disobedience to press our demand for referendum as the vehicle to achieve our goal of self determination.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo person, group, or institution should link Simon Ekpa and his group to IPOB except such person,\u00a0 group,\u00a0 institution, or government is part of the grand plan and conspiracy to perpetually subjugate the Biafran people to a life of servitude and misery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSimon Ekpa has been shielded from arrest and terrorism charges against innocent Biafran civilians by the Nigerian and the Finnish governments\u2019 diplomatic maneuvering.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, for every crime, there is a day of reckoning. On the purported arrest of Simon Ekpa, all IPOB members, Biafrans and lovers of Biafra freedom should remain calm and focused on our core objective which is the restoration of the sovereign state of Biafra,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"post-views-icon dashicons dashicons-chart-bar\"\/> <span class=\"post-views-label\">Post Views:<\/span> <span class=\"post-views-count\">2<\/span>&#13;\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"theea-after-content_9\" id=\"theea-343310210\">\n<h4>Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"theea-after-content_12\" id=\"theea-2023293976\"><!-- Ad space powered by WP AdCenter v2.5.7 - https:\/\/wpadcenter.com\/ --><\/p>\n<div class=\"wpadcenter-ad-container\">\n<div id=\"wpadcenter-ad-745970\" class=\" ad-placement  wpadcenter-alignnone alignnone\">\n<div class=\"wpadcenter-ad-inner\"><a id=\"wpadcenter_ad\" data-value=\"745970\" data-placement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/lagosinternationaltheatrefestival.ng\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"wpadcenter-ad-inner__item\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"317\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail lazyload wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1280\u00d7317.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1280\u00d7317-640x159.jpg 640w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1280\u00d7317-1024x254.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1280\u00d7317-150x37.jpg 150w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1280\u00d7317-450x111.jpg 450w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1280\u00d7317-1200x297.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1280\u00d7317-768x190.jpg 768w\" src=\"https:\/\/theeagleonline.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1280\u00d7317.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 20px;\">\n<p><em>Source: <\/em> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/politics.einnews.com\/article\/762909718\/NjxsDs2UP3tmR40q?ref=rss&amp;ecode=kmfm9fDbRbj4OPCJ\">politics.einnews.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has dissociated themselves from the self acclaimed Prime Minister of Biafra Government in Exile (BRGIE) Simon Ekpa. The Eagle Online reports that Ekpa, a Finnish-Nigerian separatist agitator and self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government In-Exile, was arrested in Finland alongside four other individuals for alleged terror-related offenses. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}