By Pascal Ibe

Claim

A high-ranking member of Simon Ekpa’s autopilot faction of the IPoB, Ngọzi Orabueze, claimed that Finland would go on a religious freedom watchlist for detaining Simon Ekpa and others.

She also claimed that Nigeria on currently on the religious freedom watchlist.

Verdict

This claim is FALSE. The screenshot attached to her claim was a 2021 report of U.S. lawmakers urging the Commission on International Religious Freedom within the State Department to consider placing Finland on its watchlist after the prosecutor general decided to press charges against a Protestant bishop and a member of Parliament for espousing the Biblical view on marriage. Also, a check on the US Religious Freedom Agency showed that there are no plans to add Finland to the list, and Nigeria is not currently on the list.

Full Text

A self-acclaimed Deputy Prime Minister to Ekpa’s autopilot faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB) has claimed that Finland will be added to the religious freedom watchlist for detaining Ekpa and others.

In a post on the X platform on 10th February, she claimed that Finland would go on a religious watch list just like Nigeria for punishing individuals like PM Simon Ekpa, etc.

So far, the post has generated over 26k views and more than 1.1k likes.

Her followers had already believed that this claim was correct.

Simon Ekpa, the leader of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile (BRGIE), was arrested in November 2024 over terrorist propaganda. He has been since detained in Finland prison for further investigations.

Verification

First, the screenshot attached to the claim by the Biafra agitator, was a 2021 report of US lawmakers urging the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom within the State Department to consider placing Finland on its watchlist after the prosecutor general decided to press charges against a Protestant bishop and a member of Parliament for espousing the Biblical view on marriage.

As a 2021 report, this has nothing to do with Finland’s prosecution of Mr Ekpa.

According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, in addition to its CPC recommendations, the Commission recently established a Watch List of countries where religious freedom conditions do not rise to the statutory level requiring CPC designation but which require close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the governments.

Countries on the Commission’s religious freedom watchlist are Afghanistan, Cuba, Belarus, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Venezuela.

The current countries on the religious freedom watchlist of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom debunked the other claim by Orabueze that Nigeria is on the list.

In a statement by then Secretary of United Secretary, Anthony Blinken which was published by US embassy in Russia in 2024, he noted that as part of that enduring commitment, he designated Burma, the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, the DPRK, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom. In addition, he designated Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam as Special Watch List countries for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.

Mr Blinken also designated al-Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS-Sahel, ISIS-West Africa, al-Qa’ida affiliate Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, and the Taliban as Entities of Particular Concern.

Conclusion

Ngọzi Orabueze used an unrelated 2021 report to mislead her followers that Finland will go on a religious freedom watchlist for detaining Simon Ekpa. Therefore, this claim is FALSE.