Dutch-Nigerian activist Sunny Ofehe has been released after two weeks in close confinement in a prison in the Netherlands. He had been arrested at his home in Rotterdam on suspicion of people smuggling and forgery. Ofehe, contacted by Radio Netherlands worldwide, says he does not know if the charges have been dropped.
"On Tuesday, 8 March in the afternoon, they came to my cell and said 'you are free.' My laywer hasn't heard anything and we hope to find out at a meeting tomorrow if the charges have been dropped."
His lawyer Valérie Vallenduuk-Bobeck told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that "the Public Prosecutor has insufficient evidence" to launch a criminal case against her client.
Ofehe explains he had been detained in close confinement at the Roermond Penitentiary in the Netherlands. He was held under strict restrictions and could only leave his cell to take his shower or call his lawyer. After his arrest, she said that those restrictions forbid her and her client from making statements related to the substance of his case.
Asked to comment on the case, the Public Prosecutor's office told RNW "there is nothing to report at the moment about the status of the investigation."
smuggling
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office the suspicions against Mr Ofehe first arose when he was at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport to pick up a man and a woman arriving on a flight from Nigeria. The man was detained by immigration officials because the woman was travelling on a passport in another person’s name.
The woman later told the police that she had been threathened by a so-called "madam" from Italy using voodoo practices to coerce her into working as a prostitute. Later she filed a complaint for human trafficking. Presumably, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, human traffickers had intended to force her into prostitution in Italy.
Niger Delta campaign
Ofehe says his family had been traumatised by the five-hour search of his home. He now feels free to continue his campaign against environmental degradation caused by oil extraction in the Niger Delta region.
Ofehe claimed earlier that his arrest was related to the Niger Delta and the role he played in the recent parliamentary hearing on Shell Petroleum's role in Nigeria's oil rich region. During the hearing he held Shell largely responsible for widespread environmental degradation in his country of origin.
He intends to testify at a European Union hearing in Brussels on 20 April.
Email this Article
Printer-friendly version
Anyone who understands how big institutions act will be convinced that this is purely a way to intimidate a human rights activist.
I put my hands in the fire for mr. Ofehe, he spends his life for the rights and health of his people. A white dutch person would never be arrested for this weak charges.
I urge everybody to keep prejustice for himself. You can find out yourself what is going on in the Ogoni Delta. You would not be able to live there for longer than 1 day. What happens is that he and his family are treated brutally and he has not been able to go on his work, which is HUMAN RIGHTS. And I fully agree with Don Fatoma.
What a shame to the dutch police and their clonies, I will prefer comrade ofehe to institute a legal suit against them for voliating his human right by keeping him under confinement for 2 weeks.
the enemies of progress have started again and I pray the almighty will never allow them to over come you. keep the struggling on we are all behind you.
He is innocent perhaps, but should stay under scrutiny by the Dutch police. There are cases reported of shady ventures running under the garb of NGOs and organisations around the globe!
Post new comment
Please be reminded all comments must be in English, short and to the point - guideline 250 words. Abusive and inappropriate comments will be removed.