Sunny Ofehe

Sunny Ofehe is a Nigeria-born, Dutch environmental rights activist and political candidate whose activities focus on the environmental degradation in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria.^[1]

Early life and education[]

Sunny Oghale Ofehe was born on 1 February 1972 in Lagos, Nigeria, to Chief Bernard Aghogho and Theresa Ofehe of Iyede, Isoko North Council area of Delta State.

Ofehe completed his primary education in 1983. His secondary education was completed at Unity School Agbarho in 1988. In 1991, Ofehe gained admission into the University of Benin to study industrial chemistry. He graduated in 1995.

After the annulled election of the late chief Moshood Abiola, Ofehe's became an activist while in university. He mobilized his fellow students to demonstrate against the annulment of the Presidential election by the then-military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida.

Career[]

Ofehe fled Nigeria for the Netherlands on 28 November 1995 where he sought political asylum to escape the hunt by the Abacha-led military government.^[2]

Ofehe founded a non-governmental organisation, Hope for the Niger Delta Campaigns (HNDC) headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in 2005. HNDC was focused on bringing the plight of the people of the Niger Delta to international awareness. The HNDC facilitated a dialogue with the militants in the creeks of the Niger Delta in 2005 in the midst of the face-off between the militants and the State security outfits. Ofehe adopted a non-violent approach to his advocacy and played a prominent role in bringing an end to hostage taking in the Niger Delta. His campaign led to the release of Dutch kidnapped oil workers. Ofehe was instrumental in a litigation involving four Niger Delta farmers brought against Royal Dutch Shell in The Hague with a ruling in January 2013 in favour of one of the farmers.^[3][4]

A publication of a monthly Niger Delta Diaspora magazine called "Inside Niger Delta Magazine",^[5] began as part of Ofehe's commitment to expose the plight of the people in the Niger Delta region.

Government's recognition and invitation[]

Due to his activities to foster peace in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria's former president, Goodluck Jonathan, extended an invitation to Ofehe. He also addressed a joint committee of the Nigeria House of Representative and eventual invited 15 Honourable Members of the House to the Netherlands and the European Union in Brussels in 2009. On February 25 and 26 2010, Ofehe hosted stakeholders in the Niger Delta Peace process to an international Conference in the Hague, Netherlands, that was instrumental in finding a solution to the problems of youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region and also invited an aide to the then Nigerian president on Niger Delta and Head of the Nigerian Amnesty Committee, Kingsley Kuku, to engage senior European politicians in Paris and Brussels. This led to a Dutch member of Parliament Sharon Gesthuizen and Dutch embassy officials in Nigeria to visit the slums and devastated areas of the Niger Delta. The outcome led to a Dutch parliamentary hearing about Shell in January 2011 at the Dutch Parliament in The Hague with Ofehe alongside speakers from Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth, Cordaid with Shell present at the hearing.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Escaped bomb blast, arrest and detention[]

Ofehe narrowly escaped a bomb blast that rocked his room at the government guest house in Delta State, Nigeria. He was subsequently arrested by the Nigeria State Security Services. In February 2011, he was arrested by the Dutch Police after around 30 officers raided his home in Rotterdam in the early hours of the morning and detained for 14 days.^[11] He was later charged with terrorism in a case that attracted international condemnation.^[12][13][14]

Politics[]

In 2017, Ofehe declared for the race for the governorship of Delta state as an All Progressive Congress candidate.^[15] He said he wanted to be governor to put an end to the sufferings of his people and bring about diversified sources of revenue to Delta state and reduce the dependency on oil and Federal allocations.^[16][17]

Personal life[]

Ofehe married Dorothy Faluy in 2004. They have four sons.

Ofehe's 60-year-old mother was strangled to death in his family home in Benin City on 4 October 2007 by assailants suspected to be hired assassins.^[18][19][20]

References[]