Suspected Niger Delta militants have
allegedly changed condition on which three Dutch nationals would be
released, demanded N500m in ransom.
According to a report by The Punch, the
kidnappers insisted on May 7, 2014, Wednesday that without the sum of
N500m, their hostages would not regain their freedom. The updated demand
for ransom was revealed as the result of negotiations between the
abductors and the families and organisation of the hostages: Mrs
Marianne Hendricks-Vox, Mr Yandries Groenendijk and Mr Erhard Leffers.
Meanwhile the Police
Command of Bayelsa State is not in position to pay any ransom, neither
N20m, nor N500m. It has continued a massive rescue operation to secure
the release of the foreigners.
The Police Commissioner of Bayelsa State did not confirm the amount of requested ransom, denied the reports on arrest of two Nigerian-born Dutch nationals, Mr Femi Soewu and Mr Sunny Ofehe, who were also kidnapped by the same gunmen, but regained freedom in the late hours of May 5, 2014, Monday. He said they were invited by the police for an interview to get more information about the mood and utterances of the kidnappers. The CP noted that though the decision of the organizer of the ill-fated trip and the Dutch nationals not to inform the security agencies was wrong and irresponsible, the government in partnership with security agencies would do its best to free them. It would be recalled that the kidnap took place along the creeks of Letugbene (Delta-Bayelsa border) in the evening of May 4, 2014, Sunday.
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