Authorities in Niger said Tuesday, October 27, that a US national had been kidnapped in the south of the country, 400 kilometers east of Niamey and near the border with Nigeria. The son of an American missionary who has lived in Niger for several years, the man was kidnapped “in a garden on the outskirts of Massalata”, a village near Birni Nkonni, said the prefect of Birni Nkonni department, Ibrahim. Abba Lele.
Another American, Jeffery Woodke, a humanitarian kidnapped in October 2016 in Abalak in Niger, and no doubt then taken to Mali, is still in the hands of his captors. President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou assured in September 2019 that Jeffery Woodke was alive and in good health.
Recurrent jihadist attacks
Several Western hostages remain detained in the Sahel, after the release in early October in Mali of Frenchwoman Sophie Pétronin and two Italian hostages. In August, six French aid workers and two Nigeriens were assassinated 60 kilometers from Niamey in a nature reserve, an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group. Niger, a very poor Sahelian country, is plagued by recurrent jihadist attacks which have left hundreds of people dead.
With Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso, it is at the heart of a huge area scoured by jihadist groups claiming to be ISIS or its rival Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and where some 5,100 soldiers are deployed. French counterterrorism force Barkhane. Niger is also facing attacks by the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram on its south-eastern borders. In addition to deadly raids, Boko Haram is increasing the kidnappings of inhabitants, released for ransom.
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