SPECIAL REPORT: IPOB-linked attacks, killings reduce since Simon Ekpa’s jailing

Attacks and killings 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, checks by PREMIUM TIMES revealed.

This newspaper comparatively analysed the attacks as well as killings that happened in 2024 and 2025 across the five states in the South-east to determine the decline of the attacks and killings.

The decline after Mr Ekpa’s arrest and imprisonment in Finland shows that the Biafra agitator may have contributed to the attacks in the region.

Mr Ekpa, who founded a faction of IPOB called Auto Pilot, was in September 2025 sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in Finland after a court found him guilty of terrorism-related charges.

The court ruled that Mr Ekpa, a Nigerian-Finnish citizen, had participated in a terrorist organisation and had publicly incited crimes for terrorist purposes in Nigeria’s South-east.

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

Prior to his arrest and subsequent imprisonment, Mr 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 Mr Ekpa to halt the sit-at-home curfew. It was not the first time he would make such a call. However, Mr Ekpa dismissed the directive as fake, insisting that he would continue to enforce it unless Mr Kanu personally addressed him in Finland.

The illegal sit-at-home curfew has significantly disappeared in the South-east since Mr Ekpa’s imprisonment, even before Mr Kanu-led IPOB and Mr 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 Mr Ekpa’s arrest, 1 January to 21 November 2025 represented the period after. The findings showed that the attacks declined by 50 per cent.

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 gunmen, attack, IPOB, 2024, 2025, invade, kill, abduct, kidnap, and hoodlums.

To avoid recording an attack or abduction multiple times, our reporter took screenshots of each recorded attack or abduction with specific dates. In this sense, other newspapers’ reports or reports from news websites on the same recorded attack would not be repeated in the record sheet.

This newspaper did not include raids on criminal camps by the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force or any other security agency. Also, attacks and abductions outside the five states of the South-east were not documented or counted.

Most of the documented attacks and abductions were confirmed by the police or other security agencies or their personnel who chose to be anonymous.

Beyond the attacks and their locations, PREMIUM TIMES documented the number of casualties and abducted victims recorded within the periods under review.

PREMIUM TIMES’ findings showed that attacks and killings in the South-east in 2025 declined by 50 per cent compared to those recorded in 2024.

From 1 January to 21 November 2024, there were a total of 100 attacks in the South-east, including abduction.

A total of 206 people were killed during the attacks, while 66 people were abducted during the period.

For the period from 1 January to 21 November 2025, a total of 50 attacks were reported in the South-east, including abductions.

During the attacks within the period, a total of 162 people were killed, while 59 others were abducted.

Most of the people killed during the attacks within the periods (2024 and 2025) were security operatives, especially police officers and soldiers

In 2024, Anambra recorded the highest number of attacks in the South-east. The state recorded 30 attacks, while 48 people lost their lives in the attacks across the 21 local government areas of the state. A total of 25 people were abducted in the state during the period.