Gunmen demand N20m ransom for release of kidnapped Dutch nationals
ONE of the kidnappers of the three Dutch nationals, at weekend, in Lutugbene, Ekeremor Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, has allegedly been shot dead by suspected pirates just as the kidnappers have reportedly demanded N20m ransom to free the victims.
A source told Vanguard, Tuesday, that the kidnappers ran into the sea pirates, who attacked them, as they were escaping with the Dutch nationals to their den in the creek.
The Coalition of Swamp /Coastal Oil Producing Communities of Bayelsa and Delta States, however, last night, gave the kidnappers a 24-hour ultimatum to release the victims or Ijaw gods would go after them.
Mr Yandries Groenendijk, Marianne Hendricks-Vox and Erhard Leffers . The Nigerian in their midst (Galaxy TV Reporter) was not with them when they were abducted Sunday
In the words of the chairman the group, Chief Lambert Odudu, “We want to use this medium to condemn and order the release of the three Dutch nationals kidnapped in Lutugbene within 24 hours or else the Ijaw gods will go after them.”
Alleged N20m ransom demand
Meantime, the kidnappers have reportedly demanded N20m ransom for their release.
A police source told Vanguard, “yes, we heard that the kidnappers had made contact and are demanding N20m.”
This is just as reprieve came the way of two other Netherlands based Nigerians, Comrade Sunny Ofehe, founder, Hope for Niger Delta Campaign, HNDC and Mr. Femi Soewe who were reportedly seized alongside the Dutch nationals.
Vanguard reliably learnt from a community source that they were abandoned by their captors at an undisclosed location somewhere in the mangrove creek between the Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw council areas where they were rescued by some community folks at 10pm on Monday.
This was also confirmed by the freed environmentalists, Ofehe, a Netherlands based Nigerian activist who facilitated the ill fated trip.
He said that the kidnappers are still holding the foreigners while a security source told Vanguard that the kidnappers had establish contact and are demanding N20m ransom.
According to him, the gunmen are still holding Mr. Erhard Leffers (m), Marianne Hendricks-Vox (f), and Mr Yandries Groenendijk (m).
Narrating his ordeal, Ofehe said the incident occurred while returning back to Warri after a tour of the newly built hospital at Amatu funded by Chevron.
“I and Femi were later blindfolded along one of the creeks and ordered into another boat from the one they first took us. They took us to unknown location and left us there while still under blind fold 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 sympathize with the families of the remaining abducted victims, I appeal to the kidnappers to please release the other members of my team, ” Ofehe stated.
The death of one, Paul Esebulu, from Amatu II, one of the Dodo River communities during the Sunday attack on the boats conveying the Dutch nationals and their entourage is said to have heightened tension in the area.
The deceased is believed to have been killed by the propeller of the boat in which he was traveling alongside others when it capsized following the attack by the gunmen.
Sources from the area told Vanguard that the remains of the deceased, which was recovered in the early hours of yesterday at Bilabiri riverside had been deposited at an undisclosed morgue in Warri, Delta State.
“The youths from Dodo River communities were angered by the action of the gunmen. The foreigners were on a visit to their area with a view to assisting them only to be attacked and kidnapped. They had mobilized to launch counter attack on the gunmen, who have been terrorizing passengers on the waterways. But the elders prevailed on them to give peace a chance since the security agencies had waded into the matter,” a community source told Vanguard.
However, the security agencies, the Joint Task Force and the state police command yesterday assured that its operatives are working round the clock to track down the gunmen and rescue the victims.
Report by Vanguard
