SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the Finland authorities on Thursday stormed an apartment in Lahti and picked Ekpa, the self-acclaimed disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Controversial pro-Biafra separatist and agitator, Simon Ekpa, has been released by the Finnish police hours after he was arrested and grilled.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the Finland authorities on Thursday stormed an apartment in Lahti and picked Ekpa, the self-acclaimed disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
According to a Finland news outlet HS, the police escorted the separatist out of his apartment in Lahti.
The platform had claimed that they had gone to Ekpa’s residence for an interview but to their surprise, the Finland police, KRP, answered when the HS team rang the separatist bell.
The HS said the KRP prevented their team from entering Ekpa’s apartment and said that the interview would be moved “to the future”.
SaharaReporters had on February 15 reported that the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvanainen, expressed displeasure over the orders given by Simon Ekpa to his teeming followers to disrupt the forthcoming general elections in the West African country.
Pylvanainen had said that the law enforcement agencies were in touch and were cooperating on Ekpa.
Meanwhile, Ekpa was later released on Thursday evening after the police allegedly arrested him for a suspected crime in Finland.
The police claimed that its operation in Lahti and the subsequent arrest of the pro-Biafra agitator were 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.
When contacted earlier, an official of the Finnish Embassy in Abuja who craves anonymity confirmed Ekpa’s arrest.
“It is our understanding that he is currently in police custody in Finland,”
“According to information available to us, the image is verified by Helsingin Sanomat, a Finnish newspaper; in it, Ekpa is seen being escorted out of his home in Lahti by plainclothes Finnish police”, the official volunteered.
Before his eventual arrest on Thursday, Nigerians all over the world had signed a petition appealing to the Finnish government, Nigerian Government and the European Union to arrest Ekpa, the brain behind the sit-at-home order in the South-East.
His repeated sit-at-home order has been marked by bloodshed and destruction of lives and properties in the region by its enforcers.
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