Bringing Simon Ekpa to Justice 

The Advocate

By Onikepo Braithwaite

Onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive.com

Arrest of Simon Ekpa: Joyful News

The news of the arrest of Simon Ekpa in Finland, the self-acclaimed leader of IPOB after the extraordinary rendition of Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya in 2021, and some of his cohorts, has been music to my ears and that of a great multitude. It was long overdue. When, from the comfort of his home in Finland, warmly ensconced in his white and gold embroidered bathrobe, Simon Ekpa ordered a one-week sit at home in the South East in July 2023, I condemned him and his terrorist activities on this page. In fact, I said that he should be arrested in Finland, and extradited to Nigeria to face criminal charges ranging from treasonable offences to terrorism, amongst others. Little did I know, that the issue of extradition wasn’t quite clear cut. 

How Ekpa will be brought to justice, at least, for the crimes he is alleged to have committed in Nigeria, is another matter; because, based on the laws of Finland which apply to Finnish citizens for crimes committed outside Finland – and Ekpa is said to be a Finnish Citizen – see the definition of Finnish Citizen is Section 6(2) & (3) of The Criminal Code of Finland (CCF), and the fact that Nigeria doesn’t have an Extradition Treaty with Finland (see the First Schedule (Section 1(5)) of the Extradition Act 2004 (EA)), it’s rather unlikely that we will be seeing Simon Ekpa in Nigeria anytime soon. The extraordinary rendition style used to bring Nnamdi Kanu back home is also out of the question, since Ekpa is already in the custody of law enforcement in Finland.

Nigerians were already suffering from untold economic hardship, and one criminal, insensitive, bombastic element, Simon Ekpa, living safely and comfortably in faraway Finland, was forcing hardworking Nigerians who are desperately trying to eke out a daily living to survive, which if they don’t earn, their families may starve, to stay at home for a whole week! At the time, we saw a video of masked men destroying the wares of those who were brave enough to ignore the sit-at-home order and come out to sell their perishables like vegetables, which, if they didn’t sell immediately would simply rot in a day or two, resulting in losses, while others were physically assaulted for daring to do so. 

Offences

While the right to self-determination is accepted as a basic human right – see Article 1(1) of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) adopted on 16/12/1966, it is undeniable that Ekpa and his IPOB or whatever group he superintends, crossed the line between the agitation for self-determination and criminality, a long time ago.

Breaching the right of the people of the South East to personal liberty and freedom of movement, contrary to Sections 35(1) & 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution) by prohibiting them from going about their legitimate concerns on Mondays, or for one week or any other time, while using violence and intimidation to make the people comply (false imprisonment); terrorism – terrorist acts including but not limited to, allegations of involvement in the bombing/destruction of Government facilities, allegations of murder, assault, infliction of grievous bodily harm, recruiting members to use violence to achieve the end of the secession of Biafra from Nigeria, military training of members, demanding the allegiance of members by oath taking and counselling them to unleash violence against the State, intimidation and overawe of the Government/South East Governors/State and the people, and funding terrorist activities – see the various terrorism offences in Part V of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 (TPPA). In Boro & Ors v Republic (1966) LPELR-25346 (SC) per Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola, JSC (later CJN) the Apex Court cited the definition of Professor Gledhill of the words ‘overawe’ and ‘intimidate’ thus: “To intimidate is to deter from some course of action by threats; to overawe is to put a person in such fear, that he hesitates to do what he has a mind to do”. The activities of Ekpa and his cohorts, fit like a glove into Professor Gledhill’s definition, as they put the people of the South East in such a state of fear, that majority of the people have stayed home every Monday since 2021 when the forced sit-at-home was declared; and also into the definition of Treason and Conspiracy to Commit Treason provided in Section 37 of the Criminal Code Act 1916 (CCA) (applicable in Southern Nigeria), which both carry the death sentence upon conviction. Also see Sections 15 & 46 of the EFCC Act 2004, amongst other laws; Enahoro v Queen (1965) LPELR-25238(SC) per Chukwunweike Idigbe, JSC on the offence of Treason in Section 37 of the CCA, and the prescribed punishment of death upon being found guilty of committing the offence. In Boro & Ors v Republic (Supra), the activities of Boro and his associates were similar to that of Ekpa and his group, the only difference being that Boro was physically present in Nigeria. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the trial court, convicting the Appellants for treason and sentencing them to death. Also see the case of Abdulmumini v FRN (2017) LPELR-43726(SC) per Ejembi Eko, JSC on how the offence of conspiracy (to commit a terrorist act) can be inferred.

Hurdles to Ekpa’s Extradition 

There are however, some hurdles to Ekpa being extradited to Nigeria, but, this doesn’t mean that he will escape justice. By virtue of Section 6(1) of the CCF, Finnish Law Applies to an offence committed outside of Finland by a Finnish Citizen, like Ekpa is alleged to have committed in Nigeria. It is therefore, unlikely that the Finnish Government would place a request for extradition from a Requesting State, particularly one that it doesn’t have an extradition treaty with, over and above her own laws. See Section 15 of the CCF.

Undoubtedly, there are hefty allegations against Simon Ekpa and his IPOB group here in Nigeria, but, Finland is also not a Commonwealth Country that the EA applies to – see Section 2(1) of the EA. The fact that Ekpa has been arrested in Finland for spreading terrorist propaganda on social media, an offence which he is alleged to have committed in Lahti, Finland in 2021, though just a tip of the iceberg of the offences he is alleged to have committed in Nigeria, could also be an obstacle to his extradition, because not only is he already facing criminal charges in Finland, Finnish law applies to him for offences he may have committed outside the country.

It appears to be an advantage for Ekpa, that he is a Finnish citizen, as an easy way to have sent Ekpa to face justice in Nigeria, would have been to have had him deported to Nigeria, had he not been a Finnish citizen. Also, prison in Finland would probably be a more palatable and comfortable experience than prison in Nigeria, as such countries take basic fundamental rights like humane treatment of prisoners/inmates more seriously than we do. 

Had there even been an extradition treaty between Nigeria and Finland, another hurdle for Nigeria in submitting her request to Finland to extradite Ekpa, would have been the death penalty which  is not an option for punishment in Finland, as it was fully abolished there in 1972; and Nigeria would probably have had to take the death penalty off the table, as punishment for the crimes Ekpa would be charged for in Nigeria, for Finland to acede to such request. Life imprisonment is the only possible penalty for murder, treason, terrorism and the like in Finland. Undertaking that Ekpa would have a fair hearing, and his right to humane treatment devoid of torture etc, would be respected, may also have been a condition. See Sections 36(1) & 34(1)(a) of the Constitution. 

Again, treason and high treason are offences in Finland and Nigeria (dual criminality). See Sections 3 & 11 of the CCF on the offence of treason and high treason, and dual criminality respectively. Providing enough evidence of treason and other violent crimes like murder, assault, inflicting grievous bodily harm, to support an application for extradition, which are extraditable offences would help. It appears that, instead, all this information may have to be provided to the Finnish Government to prosecute Ekpa there.

All Is Not Lost

By virtue of Section 8 of the CCF, Finnish law applies to an offence committed outside Finland, which under Finnish law is an offence punishable with imprisonment of more than six months, if the country where the offence is committed, like Nigeria, requests that charges be brought against the offender like Ekpa in a Finnish court, or that the offender be extradited and the extradition request hasn’t been granted. This provision appears to apply to anyone, not necessarily only a Finnish citizen who is an offender. So, even if Ekpa cannot be extradited, the alternative is that he can be tried in Finland, not just for the offence he has been charged for there, but for those he is charged for in Nigeria.

Additionally, part of the offences of conspiracy to commit treason and terrorism appear to have been committed in Finland, while possibly the funding of Terrorism in Nigeria may have happened there too, if funds were raised in Finland. The sum and substance of this is that, there must be a robust cooperation between Nigeria and Finland to bring Simon Ekpa to justice. 

Nigeria and Finland are signatories to the Rome Statute of 1/7/1998 making it “the duty of every State to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes”. Section 7 of the CCF also recognises crimes defined as international crimes under the Rome Statute. The acts of aggression of Ekpa’s IPOB group, the suffering they inflicted on the people of the South East, allegedly killing, maiming and assaulting people, and destroying government facilities appear to be examples of war crimes which form international crimes under the Rome Statute and the CCF.

Conclusion 

As long as Simon Ekpa is brought to justice, it doesn’t matter if it is achieved in Finland or Nigeria. The venue of the trial of all Ekpa’s offences, whether those committed in Finland or outside, appears more likely to be Finland, particularly as there is no Extradition Treaty between Nigeria and Finland, Finnish law applies to her citizens for crimes committed outside the country, the Rome Statute to which Nigeria and Finland are signatories, allows Finland to prosecute Ekpa for international crimes, and so does dual criminality. If Ekpa is tried and convicted for treason, terrorism etc in Finland, the maximum punishment he will get is life imprisonment. Unfortunately, life imprisonment doesn’t necessarily mean life in prison in Finland, as life imprisonment could be as short as 13 years imprisonment. But, still, punishing Simon Ekpa to the fullest extent of the law in Finland, will serve as a lesson to those who believe that because they are outside Nigeria, the law cannot catch up with them, since they are physically out of reach. Who knows if the Nigerian Government will be able to come to some sort of compromise with the Finnish Government, that if Simon Ekpa is convicted for treason and terrorism, the punishment of life imprisonment should mean life, since those offences carry the death penalty in Nigeria.