SHIMLA: As many 16 Indian sailors including a crew member, Bhishm Pran Katoch from Kullu are among 24 sailors illegally jailed in Nigeria for the last 84 days.
The family members and friends of Pran Katoch have urged the Ministry of External Affairs and state government to expedite efforts to ensure their release from jail.
His father Pratap Katoch has urged the Chief Minster to get the release of his son from Nigerian jai.
There are 16 Indian sailors among 24 on board, who were illegally jailed by the Nigerian government as they mistook the ship they were sailing as that of pirates. Nigerians detained it and jailed all the occupants of the ship on August 8, 2022.
Apart from 16 Indians, as many as 8 are Sri Lankan, a Philippines and a Polish nationals, who have been detained illegally and then jailed by the Nigerian Navy.
According to the family members, the sailors aboard ship owned by a Norwegian they had gone for crude oil loading from the Nigeria and reached the port there on August 7.
The signals of their ship were off when a Nigerian navy ship approached them and asked them to follow.
They detained all the 26 sailors on board as they mistook them for the pirates on August 8 and put them in jail with no information to the family members.
It was recently after their video urging the Indian government to ensure their release went viral on social media they come to know about their sad plight in Nigerian jail.
Katoch has urged Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to take up matter with the Ministry of External Affairs to secure their release from the Nigerian jail.