How Niger Delta militants kidnapped 3 Dutch nationals

The Dutch nationals remain captive.

A Nigerian who was initially kidnapped along with three Dutch nationals on Sunday in the Niger Delta has narrated how the incident occurred.

The Nigerians and Dutch nationals were abducted in Letugbene, Bayelsa.

Sunny Ofehe, a Netherlands based Nigerian activist, via a press statement, narrated how he was kidnapped and freed by the suspected militants.

According to him, those abducted included Erhard Leffers, owner of Dutch printing company, Gerrits & Leffers; Marianne Vos, a writer with the same company; Jandries Groenendijk, a documentary maker; and one Femi Soewu.

Mr. Ofehe, who revealed that he helped facilitate the ill-fated trip to the area, stated that he was freed along with Mr. Soewu some hours after they were kidnapped but the foreigner remain in captivity.

“The incident occurred while returning to Warri after a successful tour of the newly built Chevron facilitated GMOU hospital. The gunmen numbering about 10 shot sporadically into the air, water and the speed boats carrying us as well as Mr. Berry Negerese, Chairman, Dodo River Rural Development Association operators of the NNPC/Chevron sponsored GMOU, who also facilitated the visit. Our team was well received by the people of the communities led by their traditional rulers.

“Not long after we were bade farewell by the monarch, the armed gang, suddenly, from nowhere, rounded up our boats and asked everyone to lie face down. (They) screamed, “We want the white men.” Everyone was virtually panic-stricken and terrified.

“We laid face down and they dragged out the white people while also picking out every valuable in the boats.

“Just when we thought they had gone, another boat conveying more armed men, who were firing into the air, ordered me and the other Nigerian, Femi from Holland, into the boat and sped off chanting some war songs.

“I and Femi were later blindfolded along one of the creeks and ordered into another boat from the one they first took us with. They took us to an unknown location and left us there. We were still blindfolded and were kept separately. Late Monday evening, we were both taken away in a speedboat and brought to another unknown community where they abandoned us.

“The armed men then threatened us to leave the Niger Delta region if we want to remain alive. We were able to find our way through a path to the town and called for help. Some local people ferried us to the nearby jetty from where we were taken to a place where we got a boat to the upland.

“While I sympathise with the families of the remaining abducted victims, I appeal to the kidnappers to please release the other members of my team,” Mr. Ofehe stated.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr. Ofehe, as part of his Niger Delta activism, has organised similar successful visits in the past.
The Dutch nationals were yet to be freed as at 11:00 a.m., security sources in Bayelsa said.

Kidnapping for ransom is common in the Niger Delta, particularly Bayelsa despite a state law that punishes the crime with the death penalty.