UPDATE! RNW Africa will be covering the trial live on Monday September 5th here on our site. You will be able to ask questions to our producer Helene Michaud who will be blogging live from the courtroom. You can also follow the discussion and add comments on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Stay tuned!

Only the counsel of the Lord shall stand concerning this case,continue to be focus and put all your trust on God as He is the only one that will not fail you.No matter those who are conspiring to bring you and the good work you are doing,the Lord will vindicate you.What the enemies want to use to destroy your work,God will use to advertise the good work you are doing.

As a young man who believes in freedom, justice and equity, i will not support any fellow irrespective of position or beliefs to go against the laws of any country including my home state, Nigeria. i have been a religious follower of comrade ofehe since i learnt of his activities in protesting (non violently)against the injustice meted on the Niger Delta people and its environment by multinationals operating in the region. His courage to speak against the Nigerian government even in a time when many who were previously acclaimed as activists are fraternizing with the government to self-enrichment while abandoning the true cause of the people reflects the content of his person, will strength and character. politically motivated trials and false indictments have over centuries been the easiest weapon used by the political class to intimidate the ordinary man and history has a re-recorded map for such repeated cases. The most recent of such is the "KEN SAROWIWA's CASE.' we have seen the end result of the struggle for which Ken Saro Wiwa was falsely indicted, trialed and convicted for. We have also seen that evil can never defeat good for too long. The dutch and their accomplice may have chosen to be recorded on the wrong side of history as persecutors and false jurors...but truth remains sacred and cannot be suppressed by the strongest troops of evil. As such i would like to thank them ( the dutch and their accomplices) for helping bring Comrade Sunny Ofehe to limelight... for attempting to make Ofehe's selfless defence of the truth a global note by pursuing a case that is premeditated for failure. We owe you ( the dutch) our sincere gratitude for recognizing selflessness and the strive for the defense of the earth's environs by Ofehe in your blind attempt to unjustly persecute Ofehe as compensation for his incessant demand for a better farmland and fresher air to breathe for the deprived Niger Delta people. I dont know if that is too much to ask of you for the streaming wealth you such from the region on daily bases...I know some of those involved in this master conspiracy by the dutch are in secret battle with their conscience. I perceive even they are dealing with powers beyond them. To such i speak to your conscience to consider the future of the world if we must allow ourselves be used as tools to silent sincere voices crying out loud from the wilderness. in what ever the outcome of this case becomes, know it that God is our ultimate Judge and his decisions are final! From Nigeria, we will follow this case to the end. We will light candles in our streets and mourn the reputation of the dutch as it dies in her hearts on every occasion of this rehearsed trial. We will keep accounts of your every attempts to silenced Ofehe and shall not forget in a hurry your evil poison procured to permanently keep our region in a guise of suffering and deprivation. But you are lucky because ofehe has taught us to show you love instead of hate. so we will show you enormous love by keeping faith with a non violent outburst until justice is served to the conspirators in this ducked case. Again, God remains the ultimate Judge!

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
As a stunch supporter of the Hope Niger Delta Campaign whose programs and activities has been operated openly on the platform of non-violence and for the purpose of a sustainable environment.
Comrade Sunny Ofehe, Justice will surely be served to those who go about misinforming and misinterpreting the basic cause and objective of HNDC.

There is a Sierra Leone proverb that goes ‘stone stone deep in de batam ob de wata, no no say wen de rain de come’ which roughly translates to ‘when you are up to your neck in crocodiles you can easily forget that your original intention was to drain the swamp’!
Sunny asked me to comment on this thread 2 days ago but I was unsure whether it would be to his direct benefit. There is a big difference between ‘Justice’ and ‘Law’ and while the majority of previous comments understandably raise the issue of justice for the ‘Swamp’ the immediate priority must be Sunny’s ‘legal crocodiles’.
I changed my mind after reading the comments by Margit and Raya but perhaps not for the expected reasons and perhaps before I offer an explanation it would best serve Sunny by briefly clarifying our relationship.
While we both seek to solve the problems of the Delta we do not necessarily agree on strategies and have very different tactics. Sunny invited me to the Niger Delta conference, the parliamentary hearing and the European Parliament roundtable but I refused to attend. While I respect that the seemingly endless conferences, workshops, roundtables and the somewhat superficial and ideological media attention has played a role in raising awareness about the Delta they fail to make any real impact on the Delta itself. In fact they can be a smokescreen for the complex reality that is the result of an extended, evolved (and arguably engineered) systemic breakdown in the Delta.
I certainly do not subscribe to the ‘blame and shame’ culture as an effective strategy for change...in fact the reverse is probably true. There is a famous picture that depicts 2 farmers, a cow and a lawyer... 1 farmer is pulling the horns, 1 farmer is pulling the tail and the lawyer is milking the cow!
That said I have recently agreed to being appointed as a technical adviser to HNDC and the reason is very relevant to the current situation that Sunny finds himself in... The time factor! When this began the ‘politics’ (small p) of the Delta were different. Margit points out the Oil Companies (OC) are ‘doing some community projects now’ but this is not the important factor... all of the OCs have been carrying out Corporate Social Responsibility projects for many years to little effect other than maintaining a ‘durable disorder’. 2-3 years ago when Sunny’s problem began it was about conflict and compensation now the attitude is changing to conciliation and co-operation. We can argue the real motivations for this attitudinal change but it isn’t really relevant here the important aspect is that there has been a change in strategy... the tactics being applied to Sunny show a remarkable similarity to the Judy Asuni (AACP) case but I cannot see the logic in maintaining these actions given the changing circumstances. I agreed to his request because Sunny agrees that HNDC needs to shift focus in the light of recent changes in the Delta. I would guess that the lobbying will continue but now there will be a greater focus on providing practical solutions rather than apportioning blame for their lack.
Perhaps the continuation is something to do with the ‘Dutch’ factor... I do not know and thus cannot comment. I also am not qualified to comment on the specific charges of forgery and trafficking but I do feel qualified to point out some of the facts that might have been overlooked or not considered in the practical and contemporary context.
The first is easy... Goodie in an early comment raises the Sara Wiwa comparison. I fail to comprehend why if this is (was) indeed a conspiracy between Shell and the Dutch authorities that they have not realised the danger of the martyr effect... with all due respect on the international scale Sunny is a relatively small fish. Whether he is guilty or innocent is almost incidental if he is found guilty then the reaction from the Human Rights lobby will be enormous...does Shell really want another Martyr? If as being alleged Shell does have influence with the Dutch authorities then if it was me I would be doing my best to make this just ‘go away’.
Some of the other points I would raise are indeed more complex and not having access to the actual evidence or the actual charge sheet and given the limitations of this forum I can only comment in very general terms.
I believe that the major concern is the charge of ‘conspiracy to engage in terrorism’ (apologies if this is not exact) and that causes me some major concerns of my own. The evidence is as I understand a number of transcripts of telephone conversations with whom? Bunkerers have been mentioned and of course (given the time) it can be assumed that it may also refer to one of the Militant groups then active. I have myself engaged with many of these groups and as Sunny will confirm at a much greater level of contact than he has. It comes with the job... if there is to be any chance of ending the conflict then it is necessary to engage with ALL stakeholders otherwise efforts will be as futile as those of the endless conferences and reports... and while it may seem productive to sit in Dakar or Nairobi (or Amsterdam) or even Abuja and Lagos unless people like Sunny are prepared to go outside the razor wire and get their feet muddy then it will always be mere process not product.
Did he conspire? I don’t know but either way it certainly was not with ‘Terrorists’ the mere fact that the militant groups in the Delta are being described as such is a clear statement that the authorities (like most observers including the politicians and the media) have not done their homework.
While there is no international legal definition of ‘terrorism’ the overwhelming consensus is that it must be directed against civilians/the general public. The intent must be to incite ‘terror’ and while it can be argued that terrorism is a criminal act the logic cannot be reversed. I know of only 1 instance where the delta militants have been labelled as terrorists and that was an Israeli newspaper that later retracted the statement. The FGN have never labelled the Delta militants as ‘terrorists’ and indeed any analysis of the strategies used in the ‘Struggle’ clearly shows that the dynamics were motivated by a shifting and confused balance of motivations.. Ideology, criminality and political. Civilians were never a target and far from inciting terror in the general public the various groups could never have operated without popular support. Bunkerers are more simplistic... they don’t blow up pipelines... They tap them!
I am not a lawyer but an interesting thought just occurred... since this all began the vast majority of delta militants have accepted an amnesty. This amnesty clearly defines their actions as being criminal in intent there is no mention of any terrorism... is this not an important fact. Besides it is interesting to reflect on the legal position of charging someone with conspiracy when the nation in question has granted amnesty to all the probable co-conspirators?
Its kind of hard to wrap this up... so much has to be left unsaid... if I have made statements that need to be qualified then Sunny has my email address and I would be happy to explain my reasoning separately... it would only further detract from the issue here. The bottom line is I guess whether or not Sunny has actually fallen foul of the law and whether it is a conspiracy against him. I will leave that decision to those more informed than I but I do know that if there is any genuine intent to resolve the problems of the Delta then it will demand that everyone has a part to play... Sunny is not by any definition a ‘terrorist’ so is this just about ‘locking the stable door’ for appearances sake or is it about drawing a line and actually trying to ‘catch the horse’?

shell i have noting to say to u people but there is god...the name god is not shell so lets wait and see

Sunny is a great man who engaged himself for a good course..this is the lobbying for Niger Delta issues. This brought him into troubles now. Some people are not differenciating and have little idea about the whole complexity. Instead of educating themselves on these issues..they are attacking someone who is looking for a solution of the problem...

I know Sunny as a Human Rights Activist and Lobbyist and he played a great role in organising the large Niger Delta Conference in Europe - in Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, bringing almost the whole African community the Netherlands and Civil Society Organisations togethe for a good course of educating the public, fosterig discussions and debates, introducing other initiatives actively involved in actities there. Four people from Austria joined for the activities and Sunny showed a tremendous amount of hospitality to all of us. He is simple, ambitious, down to earth and very vry active and has a very lovely wife and sweet little boys. Topics should not get mixed up here. Shell is also doing some community projects now and good things start to go on there. The EU has a Nigeria Strategy - an outlined documents about activities going on there and planed actvities and I shared my knowledge with Sunny on it. So please...let him work in peace and for peace and prosperity and respect for human rights...here in Europ and on the African continent, Nigeria, the Niger Delta in particular.

To my beloved fellow-Dutch compatriots:
Let's do a little imagination-trip with our fantasy. We, Dutch people like to exchange. What another has, we also want it. Ok, there we go: Holland is for a while Nigeria, while Nigeria is Holland. We are an oil rich country. Because of our history we don't have the means to extract it. We allowed a company from the democratic country Nigeria to do that for us, and we made some lousy appointments about our share of the profits. We didn't learn well how to make fair deals of our former colonists, but we do what we can.
In the last 50 years the oil-industry leaves us in a complete mess: the oil is everywhere. Our drinking water is contaminated, not a single fish survives the rivers covered with oil, 110 gasflares are scattered over our whole river delta, people become sick and die, our crops are worthless or don't grow. We have no money, we can't send our children to school. Our human right-activist Kees Saro Wiwa was persecuted and hanged by our authority's together with 8 others. The oil company supports our corrupt regime, and interferes in many state-institutions. Now we have a strong human right organisation: Hope For Dutch Delta Campaign. Our leader lives in Nigeria and has set up a campaign to give us back our rights as stated in the United Nations Convention. In the democratic country Nigeria he is followed since 2 years, his telephone is tapped, and in the beginning of this year 30 policemen invaded his house at 6 o'clock in the morning where he lives with his wife and 4 young children. His administration, computer, phone was taken and he is put in jail for 2 weeks, out of reach from his family. His lawyer had to travel 3,5 hours to visit him in prison. Some charges are dropped, but his life is already in turmoil, because he lost much time, money, enegy, and worst of all, his children lost faith in Nigeria' s people and police. He was not offered any help from the side of the authorities for the trauma his family has to suffer.
Meanwhile the headquarters of the oil company in Nigeria is calm and peaceful, the annual reports give good perspectives for the shareholders. The director convinces himself, the Nigerian government and the media to be the example for fair trade, green and human policy.
With our empty stomachs and sick and buried people because of the pollution we have one problem: we don't understand why this should be called "Justice and Equality". Has the oil-company forgotten that they are a guest here? How do they explain why their law is only valid in Nigeria and not in Holland? We hear them complain a lot about Dutch people not being nice to them. But they have not shown (openly) any willingness to imagine themselves in our place. We invite them to do this little imagination-trip. We wish them a refreshed mind and inspiration for a new way to behave in this world and join the transformation towards a world based on honesty, sharing, peace. The world is ready for it. The first steps have been taken by many people, lots of (rich) company's and leaders.
You can come out of your imagination now, turn back to your own nationality and start believing this fantasy is more realistic than following the needs of our EGO, which was common until now.

This is what Mr. Sunny Ofehe is working for, in spite of the suffering for himself and his family. He could also have been quiet and maintain easy life like the Nigerians in the fantasy-trip, but he wants to see his land and people be healthy and happy, not only himself.
Instead of the pathetic dutch autorities I say: Sorry for treating you so bad, and thank you for being here to show us how to be patient, how to fight for human rights, to forgive, and how to keep laughing in spite of all.

In answer on the message of Johan v Dijk, and all who want to come:
His first appearance in court at the ROTTERDAM HIGH COURT (WHILEMINAPLEIN METRO STOP), POSTHUMALAAN 74, 3072 AG, ROTTERDAM. The date is MONDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER 2011 and the time is 14:30. Its at the 2nd floor and at the reception you ask of the case of MR. OFEHE and you will be referred to the Court Room.

Wish you all Justice and Equality,
a dutch friend

Mr. Comrade I want to apologise to you on behalf of all Dutch Citizens for the shameful ordeal the authority have taken you through. Be assured that those after you represent an insignificant number in our population. The people are on your side.
Carry on with you good work which we have all seen and we will continue to support you. I will be in the court as a show of support for you. I have heard you speak in many conferences and event. I have no doubt you are a brave man and you are the best person for this challenge.

Using your security apparatus to harrass an activist who has concerns about the pollution and harm being done to his environmenet,is not democratic or civilised..it is an abuse of power and money.

Mr Ofehe and me were in the Delta together filming. All we did was doing oure job but mostely trying to stay alive. There is so much video material proving what Mr Ofehe was doing in the Delta. But nobody is interested. I personaly was afraid that Shell's army was going to cacth up with us and kill us there But i never thought they would go this far pesecuting Mr Ofehe in Holland as if The Delta belongs to Shell Holland. I also wander why they are not persecuting me as well ? Is it becouse i am White ?

I saw this man on Dutch television RTL last year when he appeared in a documentary showing how the local people of the Niger Delta refine crude oil locally into petrol and diesel. It was very educative for me. Now I read that our government is charging him for terrorism to blow pipelines in that same area? I read on telegraaf that he was arrested also this year for human trafficking, now they drop that and come with this. It's a shame that the prosecutor is using tax pagers money to protect pipelines that belong to Shell in Nigeria!!!! He was followed for 18 months and 25 officers were assigned to his case. I think we must bring this case to the attention of our parliament and the Dutch Minister of Justice must be called to explain the total cost that was spent to investigate this activist from Nigeria. I know the case starts on 5th September but where is the case taking place in Holland? I will like to convince my boss to attend and we see how we can follow the case officially. This is why the Shell headquarters in Denhaag is popularly called the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

[1] Surely this must embarrass every Dutch man and woman out there
[2] I find it unbelievable that the Dutch authorities have allowed Shell to manipulate the police for the companies selfish ends
[3] A casual glance at this charge sheet will tell even the most naive that it is politically motivated
[4] Nowhere in the world are 25 policemen/women used over an 18 month period to investigate smuggling and forging documents to get loans and housing
[5] Why on earth the Dutch authorities would be charging a man with planning an attack in Nigeria is beyond me. Surely the right thing to do would be to arrest him and extradite Sunny to Nigeria if indeed that do have any evidence
[6] I hope that the general public come out en mass for the trial on September 5 to show their disgust at this persecution
[7] Those of you who have read my book, Fuelling the Delta Fires, are familiar with the issues. Sunny's activism is well known and I think we need to make the point that this is the sole reason for him being charged
[8] In the past, I have paid tribute to Sunny and his work in helping to bring sanity and justice to the Niger Delta. Please watch this: http://greatnigeria.tv/video/215/The-Bottom-Line-Ayo-Akinfe
[9] For those who want to know more about the issues, check out my site www.fuellingthedeltafires.com
[10] I hope to be in court to highlight the issues on September 5 and hope to meet many of you there.

Aluta continua
Kind regards

Ayo Akinfe
Author, Fuelling the Delta Fires
www.fuellingthedeltafires.com

Why Netherlands/dutch are miss treating this gentleman ( sunny ) who is fighting for the right of niger delta people . why following up and down ? where all this allegation are coming from ? how can you be making money in a region but you can mainten the area...... noting is good there , no food , no water , no fish in there sea , no fruit is growing there even pram tree , no good road or good school . and Dutch government continue flowing sunny with bad allegation , dutch government are so greedy, why ? because i know sunny really want dutch government to understand what is going on in that region of niger delta in peacefully .
last month or so..... i saw how shell is messing everywhere up in BBC i feel so sad , please think of this assuming if ogoni land or niger delta region become holland with this kind of polluting areas , how will you feel ? answer me Dutch government ............ is not good

I least expected this babaric act from a developed country like Holland.This is an obvious and conspicious conspiracy from shell.Infact i begin to wonder, ponder and be bothered how a whole Dutch poilce, judiciary and all tiers of the dutch government can be bought over by shell petroleum. When it happened in nigeria where ken saro wiwa was killed yester-years, the whole world especially the western world cried of injustice on the part of the nigeria judiciary. So y is the dutch govt melting anoda injustice to Sunny ofehe for fighting a just cause, for exposing the ills and evil-minded act of shell to the world, for telling shell to make all clean-up to oil spills in host community, to provide basic amenities to oil producing areas. I think the dutch govt should buried their face in shame if they carry out this atrocious act. Well, i just hope all this charges be dropped and permanently squash by the judge on sept 5th if the dutch judiciary still need that respect and reputation it has built over time. Any contrary will be match with action from the common man which Sunny ofehe has been fighting to protect.Sunny, keep the work u have been doing. Evil cannot triumph over Good!

@Goodie Ofehe,

Please go and re-write your comment. Your english is disgraceful coming from a Unilag alumni. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

this is very supprising to me,i thought holland would be a save ground for him,when he started this struggle bcos is a develop country where human right is being recognise,not untill his arrested.so this oppression we see in Nigeria is also in the netherland ,bcos shell has alot of money to cook up trouble for anyone who cross their way of making money and at the same time is a Dutch company,do you think a Nigeria fighting them in their own country will survive it.just the same thing they did to Ken Saro,i can see they have buy off the dutch police,from what i can see from this case....the people of niger delta are ready for shell in this case,bcos they want to selient anybody who is fighting for the right of the common people in the Niger delta....Comrade Sunny Ofehe problem with the dutch police started immediately after the parliamentary hearing....and i want the dutch authority to look deep into the matter so that it wont happen like in the case of late Ken Sarowewa

This is very outrageous. The Netherlands charging someone for blowing up pipelines in Nigeria? Have they charged their own company Shell for environmental destruction of the Niger Delta? This should confirm our suspicion all along that Shell has been behind Comrade Sunny Ofehe's ordeal. I know him and I admire the good work that he is doing and I am convinced beyond doubt that he is innocent and he will come out better and even more popular. I will personally be in the court room with my friends to look at the shameless prosecutor read those charges before the judges.

Is a big shame that in such a civilized country like the Niederland will engage in such a act to try to rope an innocent man that have committed his life to the worthwhile struggle to set his people free to face unwarrented pressure and intimidations.Ofehe have always condemed thóse who have taken to pipeline bombing,and other act of destruction that some have carried out in the oil-rich Niger-Delta.Ofehe is a well known gentleman of the highest order and he has portrayed that time and time again.Many Nigerians in the diaspora,believes that this is an attempt to silence the éver increasing voice of Sunny Ofehe who have dedicated his entire life to the struggle of the Niger-Delta people.We hereby urge the Deutch government to drop the baseless and unfounded charges against him without wasting any further time.
Eriema Nyherovwo,
Vienna-Austria.