External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said that they have secured the release of five Indian sailors who were abducted by pirates in southern Nigeria.

"We have secured the release of 5 Indian sailors from pirates in Nigeria. Our thanks to the President of Nigeria. I appreciate the good work done by our High Commissioner Ghanshyam," Swaraj said in a series of tweets.

A crew of five Indian sailors were kidnapped by the pirates on 11 December in Warri, Nigeria.

The High Commissioner, AR Ghanshyam, had met Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on 12 December to discuss the release of the Indian nationals, according to PTI report.

The sailors included a third rank officer named Gopi from Kancheepuram. It was Gopi's friend in Nigeria who informed his parents about the kidnapping. 

"One of Gopi's friends in Nigeria called me up and said my son and four others (ship captain, second rank officer, chief officer and a staff) were kidnapped by Nigerians," Gopi's father Logu said, The Times of India reported.

The representative of the National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) in Tamil Nadu, S Kalaikovan, said that the crew had got out for medical assistance after reaching a port in Nigeria when they were abducted.

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