A separatist and Biafra agitator was on Thursday arrested in his home by Finnish security operatives for causing violence in South-East Nigeria through his hate speeches.
Iwitnesslive‘s Oba Olusesan unveils the personality of the man who issued sit-at-home orders that are religiously obeyed throughout the South-East of Nigeria.
Ekpa was born 38 years ago, precisely March 21, 1985, in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. It didn’t take so long before his parents discovered something special about their son; he had shown an incredible talent for sports and this didn’t also go without being noticed by the authorities of the school he was attending. Reports suggested that he represented both his secondary and primary schools in sports. His talent blossomed beyond his Ebonyi State and was discovered by national team selectors and as an 18-year-old boy, he qualified to represent the country in the 100 metres at the 2003 African Junior Athletics Championships in Cameroon.
Surprisingly, the young sprinter abandoned the sport for about three years when he moved to Finland to pursue another vision which was to become a lawyer.
He has been practising as a lawyer and activist in Lahti, Finland where he has been living since 2007. He tried his hand in politics as he contested for a seat in the Lahti county assembly without success.
Ekpa shot to national recognition when he replaced the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu as the lead broadcaster in the outlawed separatist group’s radio station Radio Biafra.
Although he was said to have been removed as the lead broadcaster by the organisation, Ekpa still continued to issue stay-at-home orders that were largely obeyed by the people of the south-east region notably due to the fear of the activities of the Eastern Security Network, an armed wing of IPOB.
