Eleven Indian citizens, who had been languishing in a jail in Nigeria for almost two years, reached New Delhi Sunday after being released by Nigerian authorities a day earlier. As they arrived here, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the government was also doing its best to secure the release of two Indians abducted in Nigeria recently.
In October 2013, 11 Indians joined a merchant vessel in Ghana as employees. They were jailed after their vessel was forced to dock at Port of Brass in Nigeria due to a technical snag.
According to CPM Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee, the Nigerian navy arrested them on July 25, 2014 and handed them over to Economic Financial Crime Commission. Banerjee, who had earlier met Swaraj with the victims’ families to seek help, claimed that the Indians there were booked on “fake” charges after they reportedly failed to pay a bribe.
“The family of one of these Indians, Jogen Das, is from Kolkata and had sought my help. I met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with his family and the families of some of the others jailed in Nigeria. They are from states across the country. The minister helped us a lot. These 11 Indians were released on Saturday, and reached New Delhi today,” Banerjee said.
In a series of tweets earlier in the day, Swaraj said that the government was doing its best to secure the release of the two Indian nationals abducted in Nigeria.