New head of Radio Biafra promises his messages will be as tough as those of Nnamdi Kanu

NEW head of Radio Biafra Simon Ekpa has vowed to continue delivering broadcasts as controversial as the incarcerated Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu with immediate effect.

Yesterday, Mr Ekpa was named as the new head of Radio Biafra with a mandate to produce the daily broadcasts with call for the creation of an independent nation of Biafra. Mr Ekpa, who holds a PhD degree in law, is a human rights activist and a legal researcher who hails from Ngbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, where he holds a chieftaincy title.

He is also said to be one of those in line to the throne as the son of the late King Nwangbo, the Ogaba Idu of Ngbo clan. Mr Ekpa has been living in Finland for more than a decade where he has acquired citizenship and got involved in local politics, recently being elected deputy councillor in his municipality.

Late last month, Mr Kanu was abducted in Kenya and flown back to Nigeria where he will now face treason charges. One of the reasons why the Nigerian government was so keen to arrest him was to stop his daily messages attacking the Buhari administration but Mr Ekpa has promised that these will continue.

Mr Ekpa said: “Our Leader, Mazi Nnamdi has directed that I, Simon Ekpa should start broadcasting from Radio Biafra with immediate effect. It is an honour and at the same time, a call to service, a call to serve the Biafra nation and a call to serve lovers of freedom.

“This task, I will do with everything in me to see that we maintain the momentum and the legacy of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Ipob. I will serve with everything in me and I will double my effort in media, diplomacy and otherwise to the best interest of Biafra people."

In his maiden broadcast on Radio Biafra, Mr Ekpa said he prayed to God and the spirit of Biafra for one thousand men’s wisdom to enable him pilot the affairs of the group. Mr Ekpa, who is trained as a soldier, was the chairman of the Igbo Community in Finland between 2015 and 2017.

A former lecturer in the Post Graduate Department of Law and Criminology at Aberystwyth University, Mr Ekpa obtained a PhD in Switzerland and studied at Canyon College where he took advance courses in immigration Law. He is an immigration specialist with vast knowledge and experience in all areas of that aspect of the law.