On Tuesday, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called in the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvanainen, in response to threats by Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa to disrupt the 2023 general election in Nigeria’s southeast.
Mr Ekpa, a faction leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has regularly issued stay-at-home directives across the South and East, stating categorically that there would be no election in the area in 2023.
The IPOB agitator has called for a stay-at-home from February 23rd to the 28th, ostensibly to prevent the holding of regional elections in 2023.
Election day for the presidency is set for February 25.
He claimed that his section of IPOB will be able to create a sovereign state of Biafra for Igbo-speaking people in Southeast and South-south Nigeria by issuing sit-at-home orders and preventing the 2023 elections in the area.
Collaboration between two countries
According to Business Day, Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama met with Finnish Ambassador Mrs Pylvanainen to examine threats made by the IPOB group commander.
At the meeting, Mr Onyeama voiced his discontent with the recent sit-at-home commands issued by Mr. Ekpa to his throngs of followers, claiming that as a result, they had engaged in violence, destruction, and even murder.
Mr Onyeama, who was represented by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada, said that Mr Ekpa’s actions were becoming a threat to the upcoming election and that the Nigerian government would not take it “lightly” with him and the Finnish government if nothing “drastic” was done about his threats.
Mr Onyeama said, “We know that we have been in contact with your good self, and we felt it was necessary for us to have this discussion with you to let you know that, of course, he is living in the comfort of his house there in Finland.”
There was time to make sure the problem was brought under control, but now it seems to be spiralling out of control. We’ve had it up to here, and we’re saying it. And since he poses a danger to the next election, we feel it’s imperative that we make our displeasure with this man’s actions known to you in no uncertain terms.
The foreign minister expressed regret that the IPOB division leader has such widespread support on social media.
The 2023 elections are in danger because of the acts of a certain person, and action must be taken right now to resolve the issue. To convey the “concerns and unhappiness of the Government of Nigeria and the people of Nigeria” over this “very unhealthy situation,” the minister informed Mrs Pylvanainen that “we believed it imperative for us to have this talk with you.”
