By Emma Amaize,

*FG not aware of trial  * Reps intervene

ON October 14, Dutch citizens and other stakeholders who converged on the Regards Airport Hotel, Vliegveldweg, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, for an international conference on the “Success and Challenges of Nigerian Government Amnesty Programme: Role of International Community”, organized by the Hope for Niger-Delta Campaign, HNDC, were, to say the least, astonished that the Nigerian Ambassador to The Netherlands, Her Excellency, Dr. Nimota Akanbi did not take her presence at the event as a matter of priority.

She sent a representative, Mr. Mustapha Kida, who apologized for her absence. The unendorsed explanation for her absence was that she changed her mind when she learnt that the Special Adviser to the President on Niger-Delta, Hon Kingsley Kuku, who was supposed to attend the summit, had rushed back to Nigeria. Ofehe, indeed, organized the conference to coincide with Kuku’s visit to Europe.

Mr Michiel Bierkins, Head, Horn of Africa, East and West Africa Division represented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands, a member of Dutch Parliament; Sharon Gesthuizen attended and delivered her paper on “Role of the Dutch Government in Peace and Sustainability in the Niger-Delta”.

Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, sent its Strategic Business Manager, Mr. Barnaby Briggs, while a former national president of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, and member of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, Dr. Chris Ekiyor stood in for Hon Kuku. Leader of the Nigerian community in The Netherlands, Chief Lambert Igboanugo and a host of others, including journalists who came from Nigeria graced the occasion.

Powerful forces

At the conference, the most hotly debated issue was the ongoing prosecution of Comrade Ofehe by the Dutch police over alleged pipeline bombing committed in Nigeria. Those who spoke at the conference viewed it as a witch-hunt against the activist by some powerful forces to intimidate and stop him from his advocacy for standard practice by oil companies, particularly Shell in the Niger-Delta region.

Kida was asked what the Nigeria Embassy in The Netherlands was doing about the case of a Nigerian activist undergoing trial in the country since February when his home was invaded by the police and subsequently charged to court for an offence that was committed in Nigeria.

Most of the speakers were of the opinion that the Federal Government was not paying enough attention to the plight of its citizens abroad and in this case of Ofehe, the government was accused of showing undue apathy to a citizen whose campaign was not a hidden affair.

Bierkins who was first to respond on the allegation that the Dutch government was persecuting Ofehe because of his campaign for Niger-Delta in The Netherlands said, “I am not in a position to comment on legal proceedings here in The Netherlands”.

Mr Ofehe

He, however, said the Dutch government sees itself as a stakeholder in whatever was happening in the Niger-Delta and was prepared to partner with other stakeholders, even those that think it had not done enough, to brainstorm on the way forward.

On his part, Kida said, “As an embassy, part of our functions is to take care of all Nigerians in The Netherlands. We are concerned when we read that he (Ofehe) was charged before the Dutch court. We are concerned, we have since the case started been monitoring the case closely. The matter is subjudice, we are an institution and we want to respect the court here. It is a matter the embassy is keenly monitoring”.

Though, Kida said the Nigerian Embassy in The Netherlands was monitoring the Ofehe case very closely, there was no formal report to the Nigerian government on the matter since the case started more six months before the conference.

More than eight months after the trial of the activist for alleged pipeline bombing in Nigeria even when known militants who bombed oil installations had been granted amnesty, the Federal Government had not made any formal statement on the prosecution of Ofehe

Ofehe persecuted—Kuku

The only comment so far was a personal view expressed by Hon Kuku in Paris when he visited Europe in October. His words, “It is because you are saying the truth –that is why you (Ofehe) would continue to have problems in The Netherlands. Your problems cannot end. We read about your problems every time and now that they are attacking and have not only tagged you a mere terrorist, but they have taken you to court in Netherlands.

“We read about your travails. Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, is very big; Shell is bigger than some countries. You can’t fight organizations like Shell alone, but continue to try because I know if you keep silent, you would die, you talk- you would also die, so why not talk and die?So you should continue because that is why they are after you.

“You are saying the truth. You are saying that your environment is destroyed. You are saying that they have destroyed your community and that they have taken so much of your oil and your money, they are developing their country and destructing your own.”

Keyamo petitions Jonathan

Keyamo

It was on October 10, four days before the Rotterdam conference that Ofehe’s lawyer, Festus Keyamo, formally petitioned President Jonathan, expressing disgust at the attitude of the Federal Government towards its citizen, who is undergoing “persecution” in another country.

In the letter, copied the Senate President, Senator David Mark and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Keyamo called on the Federal Government to institute an independent inquiry into the case of a Dutch-Nigerian activist, based in The Netherlands..

He told President Jonathan, “Our client is a Nigerian and a human and environmental rights activist and founder of a non-governmental organization based in The Netherlands known as ‘Hope for Niger-Delta Campaign’. Our client’s organization is at the fore-front of raising international awareness about the environmental degradation and human rights abuses in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria.

Although, our client founded the said organization in the year, 2005, he has been resident in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, since 1995, without having any problem with law enforcement agencies. Our client’s present ordeal in the hands of the Dutch authorities commenced on the 22nd of February, 2011, following his arrest by the Dutch Police on initial charges of “human trafficking, fraud and providing false information to assist a political asylum seeker”.

“Coincidentally, our client’s arrest on the 22nd of February, 2011, came on the heels of his public testimony against oil giant (Shell) and its exploration activities in the Niger-Delta at a forum organized by the Dutch Parliament in January 2011.

“Prior to that testimony, our client facilitated a trip by a member of the Dutch Parliament to the Niger-Delta region sometime in December 2010, to have first- hand information on the extent of the environmental degradation by oil companies operating in the region as well as the predicament it has foisted on residents of the Niger-Delta region”.

“Another coincidence to the February 22, 2011 arrest of our client was that it came on the eve of his return to Nigeria to participate in the funeral rites of his mother who was assassinated sometime in October, 2007 by yet-to-be- apprehended assassins.

“As a result of this string of coincidence, it is our client’s firm conviction that some “powerful forces”, both in the Netherlands and Nigeria, are actively involved in his present ordeal with the Dutch authorities.

“To further confirm our client’s suspicion, following the inability of the Dutch authorities to sustain the charge of human trafficking earlier slammed on him, a new charge of “conspiracy to commit terror act by blowing pipelines belonging to Shell in Nigeria” has been added to the existing charges”, he stated.

“With the inclusion of this charge, our client becomes the first offender to be prosecuted under this law in the entire Netherlands.

“We respectfully call on you, to use your good offices to intervene and see that the persecution of our client by the Dutch Authority is terminated or, at least, that the Nigeria government is fully briefed as to what is happening to our client in the Netherlands. We also pray you to cause a thorough investigation into the allegations leveled against him.

“We find it extremely curious and embarrassing that, so far, the Nigerian government knows nothing about the trial of a Nigerian citizen in a foreign land accused of planning such a horrendous act as “blowing of pipelines” in Nigeria. It smacks of intimidation and persecution”, he asserted.

Battle of wits in court

Ofehe’s last appearance in court was on September 5 and it was adjourned to December 5 following some objections raised by his defence team, led by El Manders of the law firm, Manders Advocaten, Rotterdam. Ofehe’s lawyer argued that the new terrorism charge that had been added to the four previous charges, including human trafficking and forgery had taken his client by surprise.

He said the new charge was based on insufficient evidence: three taped telephone conversations. Also, he argued that the prosecutor’s failure to release documents codenamed “Tokyo” to the defence made the trial unfair because in his view defence and prosecution did not have access to the same evidence.

But Wim de Bruijn, a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office explained that a person could be charged in The Netherlands for acts committed abroad if the conspiracy took place in the Netherlands.

Dutch affair

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, quoting the spokesman, in a recent report said its findings showed, “An investigation into the terrorism charges against Sunny Ofehe is being carried out in the Netherlands only and not in Nigeria.

“Asked whether Dutch or Nigerian authorities were conducting related investigations in Nigeria, Wim de Bruin, a spokesman for the Dutch prosecutor’s office, said that neither Dutch nor Nigerian police were involved in investigations in Nigeria. He said this was “not necessary” as “this is an exclusively Dutch investigation.”, the radio station reported

According to the report, “The public prosecutor, Gert Veurink, agreed to some of the requests submitted to the court by Sunny Ofehe’s lawyers at the opening of the trial. They will be allowed to listen to taped phone calls between Ofehe and a contact in Nigeria with whom he is alleged to have plotted terrorist attacks on oil pipelines. The prosecutor also agreed to grant them access to files codenamed ‘Tokio’.

“However, the prosecutor rejected the defence’s request to call 15 people to the witness stand – most of them members of the Dutch security services, on the grounds that insufficient arguments were made. In a letter to the lawyers, Veurink agreed with the appearance of three people – two of them Nigerians – on the witness stand.

He also dismissed their demand to call an expert to describe the situation in the Niger Delta. The judge will determine who will be called to the witness stand when the trial resumes.

Expert opinion

“Quirine Eijkman, a senior researcher at the Centre for Counterterrorism at Leiden University in the Netherlands, agrees that it is not absolutely necessary to conduct further investigations in Nigeria. “He’s charged with conspiracy on the basis of tapped phone calls in the Netherlands, so I don’t think it’s necessary to go to Nigeria. In Eijkman’s view, the prosecutor should have done more research into the political situation in the Niger Delta.

“This would have helped explain why Ofehe is involved in human rights advocacy and why he wanted to film the illegal oil tapping in the Niger Delta. She finds it remarkable that Dutch authorities charge someone with plotting to blow up pipelines in Nigeria at a time when the Nigerian authorities themselves are granting amnesty to militants involved in sabotage”.

House of Reps intervenes

At the moment, the House of Representatives in Nigeria had stepped into the case following the presentation of a petition on the matter by Hon Leo Ogor, representing Ofehe’s Isoko Federal Constituency in Delta State.

Hon Ogor told Saturday Vanguard when contacted on Thursday that the petition was sent to the House Committee on Public Petitions, adding that the committee had sent out invitations for hearing and he was sure the matter would soon be fixed for hearing.

Though, Ofehe was also charged with human trafficking, which Dutch police did not seem to be eager to pursue, part of the questions many are asking are: Why are The Netherlands authorities charging the activist for planning to attack a Shell oil pipeline in Nigeria without consulting their Nigerian government; Did the Dutch police find out if the oil pipeline they accused the activist of planning to bomb actually exist in Edo state; and did the Dutch police verify the claim of the activist that he was merely discussing coverage of oil bunkering activities in the region with some contacts in Nigeria.

Dutch police can’t prove case against Ofehe – El Manders

Ofehe’s lawyer, El Manders told Saturday Vanguard in Rotterdam that The Netherlands police cannot prove a case of terrorism against the activist. Excerpts:

These are grave allegations. What are the implications?

Terrorism attracts life imprisonment, but it would never happen in this case. It looks like a very big case but it isn’t. As alleged, Sunny spoke on the phone with someone in Nigeria, saying I want to film the bunkering (of oil) in Nigeria and expose it to the world. And the three wiretaps were in their file for two years. If you really think someone is a terrorist you arrest him at once.

(Pennings, another lawyer in the chamber) – Sunny was not detained for two weeks based on this terrorist act. He was set free for months and suddenly they put this on the subpoena (in August). It is strange.

Why is this trial taking place here?

There might be different possibilities, but I wish we knew the answer. However, we don’t have to forget that Shell has enormous interest here.

Do you suspect some kind of conspiracy between Shell and the Dutch government?

When Sunny came here, we became very interested about what happened in Nigeria. For example, I have seen papers showing that about nine years ago, Shell bought weapons for the military to defend their installations. Large numbers of people were killed but Shell said we are not concerned with it; we did not fire the weapons.

But you bought the weapons and gave them to someone else to fire. We are not saying Shell is responsible for Sunny’s case, but it might also be Shell.

What are his chances

Very good chances, if they cannot prove this.(Pennings) Well, they have tried everything and put in so much work. About 25 detectives were working on his case. We have 7000 pages of file so far, apart from the files we don’t have yet. They put in a lot of work but came up with not so much.

The Nigerian government is yet to say anything officially about this case.

I think nothing because this is not an act of terrorism. I think Nigerian government is not really interested in it because this is not terrorism.