Original image, AFP/Getty/Others
This week, the Finnish authorities arrested the leader of the Biafra separatist group IPOB, Simon Ekpa, where they obtained permission to keep him in custody until his trial.
The authorities arrested him on suspicion of inciting people to commit acts of terrorism.
The Nigerian authorities are pleased with this and have expressed their desire to see the owner handed over to face trial in Nigeria.
This is not the first time that a Nigerian has been arrested abroad for alleged involvement or involvement in serious crimes.
Here are eight famous Nigerians who have been arrested in another country, whose arrest made Nigeria headlines:
Simon Ekpa
Original image, Simon Ekpa/Twitter
Finnish authorities arrested him this week, although they did not say the exact date.
He was arrested along with four other Nigerians, all of whom are accused of sedition.
Simon Ekpa has long claimed that he is the leader of a faction of the IPOB group, which is seeking the secession of Biafra from Nigeria.
He has been broadcasting his programs and policies through social media, something that has made the Nigerian authorities look for him.
In June 2024, during a press conference, Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, General Chrysostopher Musa said, “We have made it clear that he must be arrested and prosecuted.”
At that time, General Musa accused the Finnish authorities of not giving Simon Ekpa protection.
Nnamdi Kanu
Original image, Getty Images
In June 2021, the Nigerian authorities announced that the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested in a foreign country.
While explaining the story of the arrest, the country’s justice minister at that time, Abubakar Malami did not reveal the actual country where Mr. Kanu was arrested.
But later, information showed that the security forces arrested him in Kenya, where he was returned to Nigeria without wasting much time.
Since then, he has been arraigned again in front of the court on several charges.
Earlier, Mr. Kanu fled Nigeria after the trial against him on 11 charges, including involvement in insurgent groups, illegal possession of weapons and importation of illegal goods into Nigeria.
Driving Mamu
Original image, Driving Mamu
In September 2022, the Nigerian Security Service, DSS, confirmed the arrest of Tukur Mamu, who intervened to rescue train passengers kidnapped by bandits in the forest between the cities of Abuja and Kaduna.
In the announcement of his arrest issued by the spokesperson of DSS, Peter Afunanya, he said that he was arrested by the international police at Cairo Airport in Egypt on September 6, 2022, when he was on his way to Saudi Arabia. .
Tukur Mamu was returned to Nigeria, where the DSS continues to investigate him.
Nigerian authorities have demanded the arrest of Mamu to answer some questions related to the security issues facing the country.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Original image, AFP
In February 2012, a court in the United States sentenced a Nigerian to life imprisonment, after he was found to have attempted to detonate a bomb in an American airliner.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, pleaded guilty to attempting to blow up an American commercial airliner, in an incident that is believed to be an attempted arson attack.
At least 300 people were on board the plane that flew from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Detroit in the United States on Christmas Day 2009.
Sunday Igboho
Original image, SUNDAY IGBOHO
In July 2021, the authorities of the Republic of Benin in West Africa arrested the prominent Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho at the country’s airport.
His arrest came after Nigerian DSS officers raided his home in Ibadan on suspicion of spreading separatist ideology.
However, Igboho remained in the hands of the Benin authorities until two years later, before he was finally released.
Lawal Babafemi
Original image, Lawal Babafemi
In August 2015, a court in New York City of the United States sentenced Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi, who was 35 years old at the time, to 22 years in prison after being found guilty of conspiring to support al-Qaeda in the region. Arab countries.
Babafemi confessed to the crime he was accused of committing between 2010 and 2011, where he admitted that he traveled from Nigeria to Yemen to meet and receive training from the leaders of al-Qaeda branch in Yemen, and he was involved in organizing some attacks on America for 10 years.
Al-Qaeda leaders trained Babafemi in the use of firearms, including the AK-47 model, and taught him how to use the English language to spread the group’s policies abroad.
Ramon Abbas – Hushpuppi
Original image, Hushpuppy Instagram
Hushpuppi was arrested on charges of internet fraud.
In June 2020, Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates, on suspicion of money laundering.
He was later extradited to the United States where he was charged with involvement in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme.
The police also arrested 11 people in the raid they called Fox Hunt 2 in the 6 raids they carried out in the country.
Almost two million people have fallen for their scammer Hushpuppi.
Abbas was eventually sentenced to more than 11 years in prison in the United States after being found guilty.
He was also required to pay $1,732,841 to two other people he defrauded.
Ike Ekweremadu and his wife
Original image, MET POLICE
A prominent Nigerian politician has been arrested in the UK for the crime of human organ trafficking.
His arrest has sparked debates inside and outside Nigeria, something that has led to the silence of top politicians, especially senators.
The trial has been going on for a long time, while the authorities are detaining Ekweremadu in London.
In May 2023, a court in the United Kingdom sentenced the wealthy former deputy president of the Senate of Nigeria, Ike Ekweremadu, and his roommate, to nine years in prison after being found guilty of attempting to traffic in human body parts.
He was arrested in June 2022 with his roommate at Heathrow Airport in London, on suspicion of trafficking human body parts.
The court found former Mr. Ekweremadu and his roommate guilty of conspiring to arrange the transport of a young man so that his penis could be removed and put on their sick daughter.
