Simon Ekpa, a controversial Biafra agitator, has claimed responsibility for the killing of four police operatives in Owerri, Imo State, in southeastern Nigeria.
The attack occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Monday along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway. In addition to the police operatives, the assailants also killed a woman who was a Point-of-Sale (PoS) operator in the area.
Ekpa, a Nigerian residing in Finland, leads Autopilot, a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). He also founded the Biafra Defence Forces and the Biafra Liberation Army, armed militant wings of the Autopilot IPOB, and has been linked to several deadly attacks in the region.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle shortly after the attack, Ekpa announced that members of his Biafra Defence Forces had killed the operatives in Owerri. “The Biafra Defence Forces Owerri Command has recovered weapons from the terrorists after neutralising them in numbers,” he wrote on the platform at 8:50 p.m. on Monday. Ekpa often refers to Nigerian security operatives as “terrorists.”
Ekpa stated that he and his group are demanding the withdrawal of all Nigerian security forces from the southeast and are committed to enforcing this demand. “If you think you will continue to use force and terrorism tactics to force us to remain in the union, this will continue to be your fate in Biafraland,” he said, referring to the recent attack on the police.
Ekpa frequently shares details of attacks in Nigeria’s southeast on his X handle. Like IPOB, led by Nnamdi Kanu, Ekpa seeks the secession of the southeast and parts of the south-south from Nigeria to form an independent state known as Biafra. The agitators refer to these regions as “Biafraland.”
Ekpa also attached a video clip to his X post. The clip showed four rifles and some police case files displayed by individuals who claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the clip did not show the faces of those speaking in the background. In the Igbo language, one person said, “Papa, it wasn’t easy. You know today is the beginning of sit-at-home (in the southeast). People were asked to sit at home, and these people (police operatives) came out to extort people.” Another stated, “These are Nigerian terrorists who were at their duty post despite our leader’s sit-at-home order. But they felt they work for the government and would not obey the order. They have now seen it happen today in Owerri, which is 29 July 2024.”
The armed men appeared to be reporting their operation to Ekpa, who had declared a four-day sit-at-home in the southeast. One of the armed men added, “Our leader earlier told you, people, that any police or army operative in Biafraland, it is better you resign or we will use your head to work.”
On 21 July, Ekpa declared a four-day sit-at-home across the five states in the southeast. The Finland-based Nigerian stated on his X handle that the illegal order would be enforced from 29 July to 2 August, excluding 1 August.
Several persons and the Nigerian government have called for Ekpa’s repatriation to Nigeria to face charges over his role in the insecurity in the southeast. For instance, on 21 July, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State asked some members of the House of Representatives to consider repatriating Ekpa to Nigeria for prosecution. Last June, the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, accused the Finnish government and the European Union of blocking the repatriation of the Biafra agitator. Last year, the Nigerian Senate asked the federal government to collaborate with the Finnish government to extradite Ekpa for prosecution.