By Saheed Ibrahim
Image of Simon Ekpa attached to the claim on Facebook.
Claim: Multiple Facebook users claimed that a Finnish court has freed Simon Ekpa and awarded him $50,000 compensation because the Nigerian Government failed to appear in court.
Full Text
Simon Ekpa is a Nigerian separatist and self-acclaimed leader of a faction of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a press release, confirmed that the Finnish authorities arrested him on 21 November, 2024, over terrorism-related activities, most especially using social media platforms to incite violence and promote terrorist activities in Nigeria’s South-East region.
The Päijät-Häme District Court convicted and sentenced Ekpa, a dual citizen of Finland and Nigeria, to six years in prison over the terrorism offences.
The federal government of Nigeria also publicly welcomed the court’s verdict.
Amidst his imprisonment saga, a Facebook user, Debra O Kalus, on October 17, 2025, posted a claim that a Finnish court had freed Simon Ekpa and awarded him $50,000 compensation because the Nigerian Government failed to appear in court.
The claim read in part: “BREAKING NEWS: Finland Court Frees Simon Ekpa, Awards Him $50,000 Compensation After Nigerian Government Fails to Appear. The Finnish court has officially released Biafran activist Simon Ekpa after the Nigerian government failed to appear in court to substantiate its allegations against him…”(sic)
Screenshot of the claim on Facebook.
Other Facebook users who commented on the post show sceptical engagements. While some asked if the claim was true, others doubted it.
As of October 21, 2025, a similar claim on another Facebook account, Barnabas Gist, has garnered over 9,000 reactions, 2,800 comments and 1,400 shares.
The claim about Ekpa’s release can also be found on Facebook here, here, here and here.
We fact-checked the claim due to its virality and its potential to spread disinformation in Nigeria’s political discourse.
Verification
To set the record straight, we conducted a keyword search on Google. The results show that the claim originated on social media, most especially on viral Facebook posts and has also been widely shared on other platforms.
We found that neither reputable news media in Nigeria nor Finnish judicial authorities reported that Ekpa had been released or granted $50,000 compensation on the grounds of unlawful detention or the Nigerian government’s failure to appear in court.
Yle News, a Finnish news platform, confirmed that the Päijät-Häme District Court sentenced Ekpa to six years in prison after finding him guilty of terrorism-related charges. Since his sentence on September 1, 2025, no credible report has established that he was freed or compensated. Other credible news media that reported Ekpa’s sentence can be found here.
Contrary to the claim, Reuters, in a report on September 26, 2025, confirmed that the Finnish court did not cancel Ekpa’s prison sentence.
We, however, found a similar debunked claim in 2024 that Ekpa was released from detention and awarded $100,000 because the Nigerian government did not provide evidence in court to substantiate allegations against him.
Conclusion
The claim that a Finnish court has freed Simon Ekpa and awarded him $50,000 compensation is false.
The post originated from social media platforms.
Credible media platforms confirmed that the Finnish court, since November 1, 2025, has not cancelled Ekpa’s prison sentence.