Curious Case of Simon Ekpa, Nigeria and Finland

Nigerians living abroad have set up a grouping called BRGIE (Biafra Republic Government in Exile), which is “led” by Simon Ekpa. It has low credibility due to its lack of international and domestic recognition, association with violence, and Ekpa’s and his supporters' legal troubles in Finland. In the case of Ekpa, deportation is out of the question because he is a Finnish citizen. Its claims of legitimacy, such as referendum votes or international loans, lack verification and are contradicted by credible sources. While it retains some diaspora support, BRGIE is widely seen as a fringe, destabilizing force rather than a legitimate movement, with its actions causing more harm than progress for the separatist cause. Especially leading separatist organization on the ground called IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) has declared BRGIE illegitimate.

An outside observer often seeks solutions to seemingly difficult conflicts around the world. This analysis is not written from that perspective. It is unclear to the author to what extent this conflict needs a solution, in what way, and by whom. The starting point for the analysis is the fact that the Western free community offers interesting operating models and a free platform for those who want to act as influencers in the global south or in authoritarian operating environments. This space can also easily be misused to incite violence and disinformation. The purpose of this article is not to offer solutions for drawing this line.

To an outside observer, the event organized by activists in Lahti, Finland, contained several cosplay elements, offering an opportunity to break away from reality: the launch of their own coin, the appointment of “ministers” and, as the cherry on the cake, Ekpa’s video greeting from Kylmäkoski prison, where he is being held as a remand prisoner. At these events, it is easy to “blame” the bad situation on the nasty colonialists, such as Lord Lugard in this case, and thus firmly break away from everyday reality without solving the social problems of modern-day Nigeria and its southeastern parts. Undoubtedly, a lot of effort has been put into organizing the event and large numbers of people have traveled from abroad to attend, and this tells its own story about the organizational ability and willpower of this group of activists.

Ekpa and his associates seem to have come to the fore around 2020, when the then father figure of the movement, Nnamdi Kanu, named him and a dozen other influencers as his followers. Ekpa and the other influencers seem to have learned their tricks from Kanu and have gained a lot of followers through this. 

There is no shortage of potential followers in Nigeria, as the country has an estimated population of around 237 million in 2025, the population is expected to grow by around 5 million every year by 2025, and the population pyramid shows that over 40% of the population is in their teens or younger.

Since separatist activities in Nigeria are not as easy as abroad, where informational influence can take place with fewer consequences, the global diaspora provides a good platform for this, as it is estimated that there are a total of 17 million Nigerians living abroad around the world. Around 15% of Nigerians represent the Igbo ethnic group. This provides for a fertile breeding ground for information influence of some 35 million people approximately. From that amount of people one will find eager infowarriors for recruitment.

There is indeed no shortage of issues that stoke resentment towards the Nigerian officials by local populations: discrimination based on ethnicity, political exclusion, corruption, how proceeds from oil and minerals are distributed and heavy handed security presence including serious human rights abuses to name a few.

Young people are notoriously active and susceptible to the influence of social media. It is hard to imagine a more fertile platform for informational influence than global Nigerian information space provides, also considering that the social media giants of Silicon Valley are running after advertising revenue, clueless about what is really happening in the so called Global South, even though they try hard to pretend to be interested.

"The Finnish legal process is an excellent platform on which new shocking disinformation content can be produced like on a conveyor belt."

The movement’s disinformation campaign has kept itself busy. The campaign seems to be working in a coordinated manner like a well-oiled machine. Ekpa’s imprisonment and the legal process are excellent backgrounds on which to successfully continue disinformation advocacy. In May 2025, the movement’s influencers visited steps of the Finnish Parliament demanding Ekpa’s release on the basis of a political solution. It is unlikely that it matters from the point of view of disinformation what the process means according to Finnish law. The Finnish legal process is an excellent platform on which new shocking disinformation content can be produced like on a conveyor belt.

Several fake videos have been made in which world-famous political leaders supposedly support the Biafra cause. At least Macron, Stubb, Musk and Trump appear in such videos. The movement’s operations resemble a typical troll factory and the financial benefit from this for the movement’s information fighters is likely to be of some kind. There are indications that the movement’s local supporters have been purchased equipment and connections to enable trolling. The movement’s activities are carried out by members of the movement’s global diaspora, spread across the world. The disinformation campaign seems to have caused unrest and violence, especially in the southeastern region of Nigeria. There are undoubtedly enough problems in that region and in Nigeria as a whole, but the independence drive seems utopian from the perspective of even the most staunch Pan-African freedom fighter. The general consensus in Africa is that there is no desire for new independent states in Africa in addition to the existing ones, but rather to solve problems within and between existing states. At the continental level, there has been no understanding in the African Union since the days of the OAU, and the existing borders are wanted to be retained.

The next national elections will be held in Nigeria in 2027. In the future, the proximity of the elections will very likely further tighten the situation on the ground and also activate the global diaspora.

The Ekpa story has been investigated in cooperation with the Nigerian authorities. The situation in Nigeria is anything but clear from a Finnish perspective, and what can be said about Finnish-Nigerian cooperation with authorities? How is information obtained in cooperation on the ground? There are currently many open questions related to the matter. From the perspective of an observer outside Nigeria, there is a huge amount of disinformation, and the right information has to be dug up by comparing different sources.