THE Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Kingsley Kuku said the terrorism charge against a Nigerian, Sunny Ofehe, in The Netherlands is a plot to silence his agitation against multinational oil firms.However, an official of the Nigerian embassy in The Netherlands, Mustafa K. Musa, said they are very concerned about the terrorism charges against Ofehe who is the founder of the Hope for Niger Delta Campaign (HNDC), based in Rotterdam. The Dutch authorities had initially charged Ofehe for human trafficking but due to their inability to sustain this, a new charge of 'conspiracy to commit terror act by blowing pipelines belonging to Shell in Nigeria' has been added to the existing chargesKuku, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, stated that the reason why Ofehe is facing trial is because he has sustained campaign against Shell Petroleum Development Company environmental practises in the Niger Delta.'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,' said Kuku.He explained that a lot of people in Europe would be disheartened if they witness the environmental despoliation taking place in the Niger Delta because they believe in justice.Kuku said the reason countries like the United Kingdom has continued to issue negative travel advise on Nigeria is because they want to continue to discourage civil society organisations and well meaningEuropeans from visiting the Niger Delta to assess the situation there.He said the Federal government through the amnesty office would embark of series of peace programme where a lot of Europeans and Americans would be invited to assess the current situation in the region.The presidential aide accused multinational oil firms of creating a scenario of insecurity to cover for their environmental and human rights misdeed in the Niger Delta.Similarly, Musa said the Nigerian Embassy is concerned about the grave charge against Ofehe. He gave the assurance the embassy would continue to monitor the trial, which was adjourned in September to December, keenly.Counsel of Ofehe in Nigeria, Mr. Festus Keyamo, had last week petitionedPresident Goodluck Jonathan, the Senate President and the Minister of External Affairs, and urged them to intervene and get to the roots of his ordeal in the hands of the Dutch authorities.Ofehe's present ordeal in the hands of the Dutch authorities commenced on February 22 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, Ofehe's arrest came on the heels of his public testimony against Shell and its exploration activities in the Niger-Delta at a forum organised by the Dutch Parliament in January 2011.Ofehe had early 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 the people of the area.Keyamo had alleged thatas a result of this string of coincidence, it was Ofehe's firm conviction that some 'powerful forces', both in the Netherlands and Nigeria, are actively involved in his present ordeal with the Dutch authorities.
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