Please Don’t Send Us To Nigeria – Indian Sailors Detained By Equatorial Guinea Beg For Mercy

Sixteen Indian sailors who were arrested and detained for three months by the Equatorial Guinea’s Navy authorities have begged not to be sent to Nigeria.

According to the BBC, the sailors were arrested for allegedly crossing sea boundaries.

Equatorial Guinea detained the cargo ship MT Heroic Idun managed by Norway’s OSM Maritime Group in August, and the Indians are part of a multinational crew of 26 sailors.

The ship’s crew was sailing to pick up crude oil from Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria before heading to deliver it in Rotterdam, Holland.

The sea farers, in a video released, said they were arrested and treated as criminals without formal charges or legal process since mid-August.

The indian government have assured the families of the sailors that their release will be processed from the custody of the African country, while the sailors have cried out for help, begging not to be sent to Nigeria.

It was gathered that the Nigerian authorities wanted the sailors repatriated to the West African country.

Documents filed in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea disclosed that the Equatorial Guinea navy followed a maritime code of conduct and detained the vessel on an alert sent by the Nigerian naval vessel.

“The Norwegian [ship] owners also paid €2m ($2.03m; £1.74m) because the ship had not put up the Equatorial Guinea flag when it was in its territorial waters,” Capt Sukhpal Singh, a mariner and friend of the ship master told BBC Hindi.