The Department of State Services has filed terrorism charges against seven suspected commanders of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, alleged to be linked to Finland-based separatist agitator Simon Ekpa. The suspects were arraigned in three separate cases, FHC/ABJ/CR/632/2025, FHC/ABJ/CR/633/2025, and FHC/ABJ/CR/634/2025, before the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 19.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the DSS Deputy Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Favour Dozie, said the suspects were accused of receiving funds and other material support from Ekpa and other foreign-based members of IPOB to promote the group’s operations. She stated that one of the suspects, Ibrahim Ali Larabo, an illegal immigrant from the Niger Republic, was charged with terrorism financing.

According to the DSS, Larabo operated an unlicensed Bureau de Change that provided financial services for the Ekpa-led faction, receiving and disbursing large amounts of money for terrorism-related activities in the South-East. Dozie added that the suspects operated as IPOB commanders, arms dealers, arms couriers, Eastern Security Network fighters, and foot soldiers who were allegedly funded and directed by Ekpa, who is currently serving a six-year prison sentence in Finland for terrorism offences.

The DSS also confirmed the conviction of a terrorist identified as Ismaila, also known as Mai Tangaran, who coordinated the 2012 attacks on the Police Headquarters in Bompai, Kano. His trial, which began in 2017, concluded on November 18 with Justice Emeka Nwite sentencing him to 15 years on one count and 20 years each on three other counts, to run concurrently. The service added that the trial of two internationally wanted terror suspects, Mahmud Muhammad Usman (Mamuda) and Abubakar Abba (Abu Baara), will resume on January 15, 2026.

She further noted that the prosecution of Khalid Al-Barnawi, accused of masterminding the August 26, 2011 bombing of the UN complex in Abuja, is ongoing. Five additional suspects are standing trial in suit FHC/ABJ/CR/301/2025 over their alleged roles in the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State. Dozie said that 10 suspects arrested for attacks in Benue and Plateau states are also being prosecuted in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to bring perpetrators of recent violence to justice.

She added that the recaptured Abdulazeez Obadaki, also known as Bomboy, an alleged ISWAP leader linked to attacks on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, and Deeper Life Church, Okene, will soon be arraigned, alongside Musa Abubakar, a major arms manufacturer and supplier arrested in Plateau State. Dozie stated that upon assuming office in August 2024, the DG-DSS, Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, ordered a review and forensic investigation of all inherited cases to ensure diligent prosecution under Nigerian law.