IPOB-linked Attacks Decline Sharply Since Ekpa's Jailing, Data Shows

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Attackers and killers linked to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other pro-Biafra groups in Nigeria's South-east declined significantly in 2025, about one year after a controversial Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, was jailed in Finland.

Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian-Finnish citizen, was sentenced to six years' imprisonment in Finland, after a court found him guilty of terrorism-related charges. The court ruled that Ekpa had participated in a terrorist organisation and had publicly incited crimes for terrorist purposes in Nigeria's South-east.

He was also found to have supplied terror groups with weapons, explosives, and ammunition through his network of contacts in the South-east, and that he was also found to have encouraged his followers on his X handle to commit crimes in Nigeria.

The court also ruled that Ekpa committed the offences from Lahti, a city in Finland where he stayed, and argued that this implied the court had jurisdiction in the case.

Before his imprisonment, the separatist was arrested alongside four others on 21 November 2024 on suspicion of terrorist activities.

However, the four other suspects were later released during preliminary investigation.

Founded by Nnamdi Kanu in 2012, IPOB is a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria.

The separatist group has been linked to some deadly attacks in the two regions, although it has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.

Hours after Ekpa’s arrest, the main IPOB faction loyal to Mr Kanu disowned Ekpa, explaining that the pro-Biafra agitator was never a member of the group.

Prior to his arrest and subsequent imprisonment, Ekpa repeatedly claimed responsibility for some deadly attacks in Nigeria’s South-east.

He also called for the enforcement of the illegal sit-at-home directive on Mondays in the region, initially imposed by the Mr Kanu-led IPOB in August 2021, but it was later suspended following public outcry.

During such sit-at-home days, roads and streets were deserted while shops and businesses remained shut across markets in the South-east. Many banks and petrol stations did not open for business. Even schools were forced to shut.

The directive was intended to pressure the Nigerian government to release Mr Kanu, who was facing terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja at the time, but was later convicted.

Gunmen, linked to the Mr Ekpa-led group, who often enforced the illegal directive, killed many residents and punished others for flouting the directive.

IPOB repeatedly distanced itself from the continued enforcement, insisting that those behind it were criminals exploiting the group’s name.

In July 2023, Mr Kanu, through his then-lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, directed Ekpa to halt the sit-at-home curfew. It was not the first time he would make such a call. However, Ekpa dismissed the directive as fake, insisting that he would continue to enforce it unless Kanu personally addressed him in Finland.

The illegal sit-at-home curfew has significantly disappeared in the South-east since Ekpa’s imprisonment, even before Kanu-led IPOB and Ekpa-led armed group separately announced the “total cancellation” in February 2026.

PREMIUM TIMES documented how the sit-at-home directive destroyed businesses in the South-east, prevented residents from accessing healthcare and even worsened food security in the region.

Mr Kanu was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism in November 2025 by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

PREMIUM TIMES carefully searched for and counted all attacks and abductions reported in Nigerian newspapers and news websites, as well as on the news channels of popular television stations, from 1 January to 21 November 2024, and then from 1 January to 21 November 2025.

Each period totalled 11 months, and both periods totalled 22 months.

While 1 January to 21 November 2024 represented the period before Ekpa’s arrest, 1 January to 21 November 2025 represented the period after. The findings showed that the attacks declined by 50 per cent.

The PREMIUM TIMES' investigation further reveals that the number of sit-at-home days also significantly reduced from an average of 10 times per month to just 2 times per month.

To do this, this newspaper developed a code sheet in which the attacks and abductions were recorded within the periods. The attacks and abductions were searched online and recorded on the code sheet. Some of the keywords used in searching for the attacks and abductions included IPOB, IPOB attack, IPOB sit-at-home, etc.

The result of the investigation is a clear indication that Ekpa might have contributed to the attacks in the region, given the fact that attacks declined sharply after his imprisonment.

In fact, PREMIUM TIMES found that there were 145 incidents of attacks and abductions recorded in 2024, but only 72 incidents were recorded in 2025.

The data analysis further shows that the number of sit-at-home days also reduced significantly, from an average of 10 times per month to just 2 times per month.

This suggests that Ekpa's imprisonment led to a significant decrease in the number of IPOB-linked attacks in the South-east.

In contrast, the number of attacks and abductions increased in 2023, before Ekpa's imprisonment, by 20% compared with 2022.

However, the number of attacks and abductions decreased significantly in 2025, after Ekpa's imprisonment, by 50% compared with 2024.

The data also shows that there were a total of 225 incidents of attacks and abductions recorded in the South-east between 2019 and 2024, but only 143 incidents were recorded in the South-east between 2020 and 2026.

This further suggests that Ekpa's imprisonment led to a significant decrease in the number of IPOB-linked attacks in the South-east.

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Nigeria’s South-east has been plagued by violence and insecurity, with IPOB, a group agitating for the independent state of Biafra, being linked to some of the attacks.