A popular pro-Biafra separatist agitator, Simon Ekpa has been released by Police in Finland, hours after he was arrested and grilled on Thursday, according to Helsingin Sanomat (HS).
Earlier in the day, Ekpa was escorted out of his apartment in Lahti by Finish policemen.
He was later released after the Police arrested him for a suspected crime.
The Finnish Central Criminal Police confirmed Ekpa’s release on Thursday. It said that his arrest was in connection with the ongoing preliminary investigation.
“The person being questioned today is suspected of a crime. We will return to the title on Friday”, Tommi Reen from the Central Criminal Police told HS during a phone interview.
Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, had repeatedly ordered the people of the South-East to observe a sit-at-home and asked them to boycott the country’s general elections billed for Saturday.
HS had earlier reported that its team went to Ekpa’s residence for an interview, but to its surprise, the Finnish police, KRP, answered when it rang the separatist’s bell.
The HS said the KRP prevented its team from entering Ekpa’s apartment, noting that the interview would be moved “to the future”.
It was gathered that Ekpa’s arrest followed relentless pressure mounted by the Federal Government and Igbo leaders on the Finland government over his inciting comments and sit-at-home orders to South-East residents.
Before his arrest on Thursday, many Nigerians from across the world signed a petition appealing to the Finnish government, Nigerian Government and the European Union to arrest Ekpa.
The Igbo community in Finland in January decried what it termed Ekpa’s “seditious statements” from Lahti in Finland, urging the Finnish authorities to restrain the separatist.
In a statement by one Kingsley Orji, the Igbo community called on both governments of Finland and Nigeria to commence an immediate investigation of Ekpa with a view to bringing him to justice.
The statement read in part: “There is no place on the planet where people can simply hide, incite violence, and escape punishment. Therefore, the Igbo community in Finland is calling for action as follows:
“That Simon Ekpa is immediately restrained, investigated, and made to face the full wrath of the law both in Finland and in Nigeria.’’
