Missionary abducted in Niger set for return to US
WASHINGTON — An American missionary who was kidnapped in Niger last year has been reunited with his wife and is preparing to return to the United States, President Donald Trump said Sunday.
“I am happy to reveal that former hostage Kevin Rideout is getting ready to fly home to the United States after having been reunited with his beautiful wife, Krista,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
A video grab made on October 18, 2016 shows US aid worker Jeffery Woodke during a ceremony to introduce his NGO in Abalak, two days before he was captured. Jeffery Woodke is likely being held by jihadists from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), the country’s interior minister said on October 16, 2016. Woodke — the first American to be kidnapped in the west African country – was seized at gunpoint from his home in the central town of Abalak on October 14. Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum told AFP that Niger’s forces had tracked the kidnappers across the border into Mali, towards the region of Menaka which is controlled by the Al-Qaeda linked Mujao. (Photo by AFP)
He added that he looked forward to hosting the couple “at the White House soon!” SIM International, the evangelical Christian missionary group Rideout worked for, has said he was kidnapped from outside his home in the Nigerien capital Niamey last October.
The group reported Rideout “was in good health in the care of US officials,” when his release was announced Friday.
Niger, governed by a military junta for three years, has been plagued by jihadist violence and saw a spate of kidnappings of Westerners last year. It was unclear which group held Rideout or where he was being held captive.
The New York Times, which first reported Rideout’s release, said the 50-year-old American had worked as a missionary in Niger for 19 years, and was a pilot for SIM International.
Following Rideout’s abduction, the US State Department issued the highest level of travel advisory against Niger, saying travel to Niger should be avoided “for any reason due to crime, unrest, terrorism, health, and kidnapping.” In October 2020, US missionary Philip Walton was kidnapped in Massalata, a village 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Niamey, near the Nigerian border.
He was freed the same month following intervention by US special forces in northern Nigeria.
US humanitarian worker Jeffery Woodke was kidnapped by jihadists in southwest Niger in October 2016 and freed in 2023.
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