Activate Nigeria-Finland Diplomatic Ties Over Ekpa, Ohanaeze Tells FG

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has called on the Federal Government to take advantage of Nigeria’s diplomatic ties with Finland to get Biafran agitator, Simon Ekpa, whom the military has accused of fuelling the insecurity in the South-East.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, had on Tuesday accused the Finland-based   Ekpa of sabotaging the activities of security agents in the South-East.

Musa, who spoke when he led the service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police to appear before the House of Representatives in Abuja on Tuesday, had declared that “Simon Ekpa is sabotaging our efforts in the South-East,” adding that the agitator was taking shield in faraway Finland.

He urged the Federal Government to engage the Finnish government and possibly invite its ambassador to Nigeria over the activities of the agitator.

Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, the  Secretary General of Ohanaeze, Ambassador Okey Emuchay, said Ohanaeze welcomed Musa’s proposition.

Emuchay said, “This morning, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide and myself, we have discussed it, and then as you know,  everybody, all the stakeholders in the South East, the governors, President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the leadership of Ohanaeze, everybody is concerned about the security situation in the South-East.

“So, the statement yesterday at the hearing of the House of Representatives tells the story as to what we have been saying all along. It is a matter for the Federal Government of Nigeria to handle, as Ohanaeze or the states in the South-East are subordinate to the Federal Government.

“The Federal Government has a diplomatic relationship with Finland, they (Finland) have an embassy in Abuja, and that diplomatic channel is what Ohanaeze is asking to be activated. Ohanaeze is very pleased that the Chief of Defence Staff made a public pronouncement  on the matter of Simon Ekpa and we are happy with it.”

The Ohanaeze leader added that the organisation was not relenting in the effort to secure the release of the incarcerated leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Emuchay said, “Ohanaeze will not be deterred in calling for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

“Ohanaeze and the South-East governors are on the same page on the matter of Nnamdi Kanu. I am not in a position now to say more but Ohanaeze with the South-East governors, the stakeholders in the South-East, the leadership of Ohanaeze, we are all on the same page on the release of Nnamdi Kanu.”