Ekpa’s violent style dangerous for S’East — Igbo Community Finland
Obi Uchechukwu, the ad hoc secretary of the Finnish Igbo community, explains to VICTOR AYENI why the community issued a press release condemning the actions of the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra, Simon Ekpa, in Finland.
What is your position on Biafra incitement and why did you separate the Igbo community in Finland from what Ekpa stands for?
As you all know, many of us support the agitation. We are all from Biafra. But what we are concerned about is Simon Ekpa’s modus operandi. We all know that his style of agitation is very violent and we want the best for our region South East Nigeria and we do not want bloodshed or violence.
The level of insecurity in southeast Nigeria is alarming, and we, the Igbos of Finland, have received calls from various sources asking what our position is on Simon Ekpa’s actions. We thought it was high time the Igbo of Finland came together to know what our position is and we must stand by it.
That press release was issued after a December 18 meeting attended by Ekpa and his “autopilot.” It is surprising to know that he is now moving around with his security personnel armed with a gun and before he could arrive at the meeting place, our own security at the door asked him to drop the gun before they could. in, and it took him quite a while to get used to it. We knew that if the meeting was not taken care of, it could turn violent, so the government gave us the papers and we got our own guards.
We asked him several questions about his activities and the reason we even called for the meeting was because of his incessant orders like the sit at home which Nnamdi Kanu had already canceled and also his constant declaration that there will be no election and no political gathering in South East Nigeria.
We didn’t accept those two statements, so we called a meeting to ask him face to face if he meant what he said, and he told us vividly that he wasn’t going to back down, that he would stand by his orders and continue to give the stay at home orders.
And we all know that whenever he issues a stay-at-home order from here in Finland, all those criminals in Nigeria use the opportunity to kill and attack people who defy his orders.
What was the outcome of the meeting? Were there any back and forth arguments or scenarios trying to get Ekpa to change his methods or words?
The first meeting was held on Saturday, December 17th and it was a virtual (online) meeting that I attended. Ekpa was hosting the meeting and we let her do that to make her comfortable. He was asked several questions and his answers were not convincing. That’s why we decided to have a physical meeting the next day.
Before that, the Commander of the Indigenous People of Ekpan Biafra here in Finland, a man known as Clement Anyaegbu, made an audio message where he told all the “autopilots” to come to the meeting place to fight and destroy things and make sure that the meeting did not take place. I have all of his voicemails with me and may even post one.
In another audio message leaked by this same Anyaegbu, he mentioned the names of some Igbo men here in Finland and said he would send their phone numbers to some people in Nigeria to deal with them.
At the meeting, questions were asked of Ekpa, which are limited to three main issues: the sitting order at home, the banning of Biafraland elections and the constant threat to those who oppose what they stand for.
According to the report, he stated that the five-day stay-at-home order he issued, which resulted in loss of life and property, was a trial run and that before the presidential election, he plans to issue another stay-at-home order. stay-at-home order which could be long and he is insisting that there will be no elections in the whole of South East Nigeria. These did not go down well with all of us at the meeting that day.
I was taking minutes as an ad hoc secretary, and the meeting almost degenerated into chaos. Then Ekpa left with all his followers, the “autopilots”. That’s when the progressives sat down and held our meeting, and we made this resolution in that press release.
Since issuing the press release, there have been hostile comments from Ekpa’s followers, many of whom have shared photos of key members of your group in Finland on social media, branding them “saboteurs” and “criminals”. Have you received any threats since the press release was published? Are you worried that your life may be in danger because you share the same land with Simon and his followers?
Yes, my life is in danger. That shared photo is mine, and they mentioned my name, and they even dared to add the name of my city to that photo, which shows that I am the one who wrote and published the press release. I’ve seen pictures everywhere. I would like to record that I have reported the matter to the Finnish police. I have also brought criminal charges against Clement Anyaegbu and Simon Ekpa.
Several other people have done the same, and as I stated earlier, there is an audio message where Anyaegbu says he intends to engage with certain people whose names he mentioned. This is a big problem.
Yesterday they posted their own press release on their website to counter what we posted and they also included my picture and our chairman Kingsley Orji. They also put our city and our real names, and Do you know what that means?
Fortunately, no media house in Nigeria published that nonsense. As soon as I saw it, I went to the Finnish police to file criminal charges, and we still have to figure things out to catch these guys. My life is in danger.
Do you think these petitions to the Finnish government can affect the residency status of Nigerians in Finland as a result of this confusing issue?
I don’t think so, because I’m an influential person here, I’m already in the media, and I’ve never committed a crime in Finland, although I can’t speak for others.
But without exception, I don’t think it affects us. I believe most of us running this thing don’t have skeletons in our closets.
Has the Finnish consulate contacted you or have you contacted them to discuss these matters?
We do not have. I think so because I also follow what is happening in Nigeria. The Berekete family called the Finnish embassy in Nigeria about two or three weeks ago, and their anchor told the Finnish representative at the embassy that if they didn’t want to do anything to Simon Ekpa, he would lead a demonstration of angry Nigerians to the Finns. Embassy in Abuja so that Simon Ekpa could be brought to justice.
Accordingly, no one has reached me or the chairman, from the embassy or the government, but we have our plans. You know, this press release is just the first thing we have done to inform Nigerians of our position to disassociate from Ekpa and distance ourselves.
We also have other plans to be implemented in the next few weeks that will get the attention of the Finnish government.
Do you think Ekpa could suffer the same fate as Nnamdi Kanu – extradited to Nigeria and charged with crimes against humanity?
I don’t know, because first of all, he is a Finnish citizen like many of us. I don’t know how Finnish law works in this regard. Since we are from the same place, we have a voice, and as one of the guys who attended the meeting said: “Only an Igbo in Finland can make Ekpa stop what he is doing because we are here with him and live legally in Finland.”
So the government should hear us, know what the problem is and look into it.
Ekpa’s basic right to expression will not be violated, but he should calm down and examine the effects of what he has done. Many Igbo men who are now in Nigeria for Christmas could not travel. They cannot cross the Niger Bridge from Asaba for fear of being killed by these South-Easterners.