ENVIRONMENTALISTS PROTEST NIGER DELTA GAS FLARE IN NETHERLANDS

A group of environmentalists on Thursday took to the streets of The Hague in Netherlands to protest gas flare in Nigeria's Niger Delta region.

The protest organised by renowned non-governmental organisation (NGO), Milieu Defensie (Friends of the Earth), was meant to put pressure on Shell to stop gas flare in the oil-rich region.

A total of 110 torches were lighted to signify the 110 gas flare locations in the Niger Delta as recorded by Shell. Prior to the protest, a petition was signed and sent to the Chief Executive Officer of Shell, Mr. Peter Vosser.

The protest started at the famous Madurodam and moved down to the Nigerian embassy.

A letter stating the reason for the protest was handed over to the Charge d'Affaires by Campaign Co-ordinator of Milieu Defensie, Mr. Geert Ritsema.

The protesters later marched to the Shell headquarters escorted by the Dutch police where symbols of gas flare were displayed and later extinguished.

The protesters numbering over 200 marched for two hours. In his speech, Founder/President of Rotterdam-based Hope for Niger Delta Campaign (HNDC), Delta State-born Comrade Sunny Ofehe, thanked the protesters for standing up on behalf of the Niger Delta people.

He appealed to them to continue to exert pressure on the multinational companies and their government to end gas flare in the Niger Delta and save the people of diseases associated with carbon emission.