Another Netherlands-based non-governmental organisation, Hope For Niger Delta Campaign (HNDC), has appealed to the abductors of a Dutch national in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, last weekend, to release him.
Its president/founder, Comrade Sunny Ofehe, who made the appeal in an online statement to this reporter, said the group was particular about the release of the hostage because majority of Dutch citizens in the Netherlands were now more sympathetic to the plight of the Niger Delta people.
Said Ofehe: “Recent meetings by the HNDC with some donor organisations (in the Netherlands) have shown overwhelming interest by these organisations in humanitarian assistance to the region.
“The timing of this kidnapping has gone a long way to undermine our hope for a peaceful Niger Delta via a constructive dialogue and deliberative approach.”
He reasoned that despite the “man-made suffering” of the Niger Delta people, violence that has taken the form of kidnappings and hostage taking by armed militia groups “has proved not to be the answer to our perennial problems.”
“In the last two years, we have heard of more than 60 cases of kidnappings in the region, with the hostages subsequently released after a period of time. But the conditions under which they were released have never been made public.
“Part of the West now sees these kidnappings as a money generating mechanism, favourable only to the kidnappers. That should not be the definition of our struggle in the 21st century,” the Delta State-born activist stated.
He restated his call for an end to militancy and violence in the Niger Delta, citing the non-violent approach adopted by Indira Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr in their crusade for racial equality in India and America respectively.
“Why can’t we emulate these aluta icons and hope to achieve greater results? Our religion does not teach us violence but forgiveness! We may all grieve for our individual losses and deprivation. On the lips of every Niger Deltan, there is a sad story and I am also not exempted.
“But in keeping with a non-violent struggle, I have a dream�that our region will shrug off the manacles of environmental degradation and economic marginalisation,” he said.
The abducted Dutch national, identified as Mr Arjan Melise, is the Security Manager of Bilfinger and Berger Oil and Gas Services Nigeria Limited, a German firm located in the Abuloma axis of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnap and his whereabouts is still unknown.