Sailors return after 10-month detention

Kochi: After 10 months of agony, three Malayali sailors who were detained by Nigerian authorities were reunited with their families as they arrived at the Kochi airport on Saturday. Their vessel MT Heroic Idun was taken into custody over allegations of crude oil smuggling. The three Malayalis were among the 26-member crew, including 16 Indians, on the vessel. Sanu Jose, Vijith Vikraman and Milton Decoth thanked everyone for supporting them. They said media intervention helped in drawing the government’s attention to their plight. “After the media reported about us, our case became a national issue, and it was even discussed in the Parliament. Intervention from both the Kerala CM and Tamil Nadu CM helped our case. We are thankful to everyone,” said Vikraman.Jose said he was happy that whenever he called home, his family told him that they were getting a lot of support.“All 26 of us were detained on the ship itself as we cooperated with them. Due to the support from our government, the Nigerian navy treated us professionally,” the sailors told the media at the airport. All three of them were welcomed by friends and family at the airport. Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden were also among those who welcomed the sailors at the airport. A court in Nigeria had endorsed a plea deal to drop the charges against the crew members in the last week of April paving way for the release of the crew members who were in detention since August last year over oil smuggling allegations. The crew were initially detained by the navy of Equatorial Guinea and later handed over to Nigeria.