The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed terrorism charges against seven suspected commanders of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), allegedly linked to Finland-based separatist agitator, Simon Ekpa.
The charges were entered on November 19 in three separate suits, FHC/ABJ/CR/632/2025, FHC/ABJ/CR/633/2025, and FHC/ABJ/CR/634/2025, before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In a statement on Thursday, the DSS Deputy Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Favour Dozi, said the accused persons were allegedly funded by Ekpa and other foreign-based members of IPOB to advance violent activities in the South-East.
Dozi disclosed that one of the suspects, Ibrahim Ali Larabo, described as an illegal immigrant from the Niger Republic, was charged specifically with terrorism financing.
According to her, Larabo operated an unlicensed Bureau de Change, providing financial services for the Ekpa-led faction.
“He provided financial services for the Simon Ekpa-led proscribed group, receiving and disbursing large sums of money for IPOB terrorism activities in the South-East,” the statement read.
The DSS said the seven defendants allegedly served as IPOB commanders, arms dealers, arms couriers, Eastern Security Network fighters, and foot soldiers, all reportedly funded and directed by Ekpa.
Dozi reminded the public that Ekpa had already been convicted of terror-related offences in Finland.
Ekpa’s Six-Year Terrorism Sentence In Finland
On September 1, 2025, the Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland sentenced Simon Ekpa, 40, to six years’ imprisonment for multiple terrorism-related offences, including:
Participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation,
Incitement to commit crimes for terrorist purposes,
Aggravated tax fraud,
Violations of the Lawyers Act.
Ekpa, a Nigerian-born Finnish national and former municipal politician in Lahti, has long been linked to violent separatist campaigns in Nigeria.
Dozi also announced the conviction of a terrorist identified as Ismaila, known as Mai Tangaran, for coordinating the 2012 attacks on the Police Headquarters in Bompai, Kano State.
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on November 18, sentenced him to 15 years on one count and 20 years each on three other counts, to run concurrently.
Additionally, trial resumes on January 15, 2026, for two internationally wanted suspects, Mahmud Muhammad Usman (Mamuda), Abubakar Abba (Abu Baara)
The DSS further confirmed the ongoing prosecution of Khalid Al-Barnawi, said to be the mastermind of the UN building bombing of August 26, 2011.
Alongside him, five other defendants are being prosecuted in suit FHC/ABJ/CR/301/2025 for their alleged involvement in the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.
Dozi added that 10 suspects arrested over recent attacks in Benue and Plateau States are also undergoing prosecution following President Bola Tinubu’s directive to identify and arraign perpetrators of renewed violence.
Abdulazeez Obadaki (Bomboy), an internationally known ISWAP commander who confessed to masterminding the Owo and Okene church attacks
Musa Abubakar, a major arms manufacturer and supplier, was arrested in Plateau State
The statement noted that the DSS Director-General, Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, upon assuming office in 2024, ordered a full review of inherited terrorism cases and directed comprehensive forensic investigations to strengthen prosecutions.
“Investigations and prosecutions are being pursued diligently in line with Nigerian laws,” Dozi added.
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