Sushma’s intervention sought to free Telangana sailor jailed in Nigeria

Parents of a marine engineer from Telangana, who has been lodged in a Nigerian jail since July last year, urged Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday to take up the matter with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, to secure his early release.

The 26-year-old engineer, Manoj Kumar, hailing from Mahbubnagar District of Telangana, was captured from a ship near the Nigerian coast along with 10 other Indians when their ship had allegedly “mistakenly” entered Nigerian waters.

Manoj was subsequently arrested along with the other crew members and has been in the jail since then.

“We want Union Minister Sushma Swaraj to speak to the Nigerian President, who is coming to Delhi, and ensure the early release of my son. We want the Indian Government to seek his release at the earliest rather than keeping on enquiring the matter with Indian Embassy in Nigeria,” Manoj’s father Dasarath said.

“The matter is getting prolonged. Now, we want the Government to settle the issue by directly speaking to the Nigerian President,” Dasarath told PTI here.

“The Indian Government should now ensure that our son returns to India. It has been over two years since I and his mother met him. We are worried about our son,” a distressed Dasarath said. Manoj’s mother, who was in tears also appealed for his early release.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is set to arrive in New Delhi to participate in the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit.

According to Dasarath, Manoj had left from Mumbai in December 2013 and joined a shipping company in Ghana. “In July 2014, Manoj along with other crew members from India, was aboard a ship transporting scrap from Ghana to Cameroon when it stopped in mid sea due to a technical issue.

There were efforts to repair the ship for almost a month, but in the meanwhile, the Nigerian police held them,” he said.

“It was only in August this year I came to know about arrest of my son, who till then did not inform us about the incident. We had met Sushma Swaraj in August this year in Delhi along with parents and family members of other crew members, who had then assured that she would get Manoj along with others released by October 12,” Dasarath said.

“You (Sushma Swaraj) assured us of their release, but nothing has happened so far, we want early release of my son", added Dasarath.