An American aid worker who was kidnapped in Niger more than six years ago and held hostage by an Al-Qaeda terror group has finally been released.
President Joe Biden‘s national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed that Jeff Woodke has been released on Monday.
Long-time aid worker Woodke was kidnapped in Abalak in October 2016, and was the first American citizen to be abducted in the Sahel region.
JNIM, the umbrella organization which includes Al Qaeda, last claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing of the Malian headquarters of the G5 Sahel, an international anti-terror taskforce in 2018 where two soldiers and a civilian were killed.
In a statement Sullivan said: I’m gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over six years in captivity. The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him.
Long-time aid worker Woodke was kidnapped in Abalak in October 2016, and was the first American citizen to be abducted in the Sahel region
President Joe Biden ‘s national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed that Jeff Woodke has been released on Monday
‘I thank so many across our government who’ve worked tirelessly toward securing his freedom.
‘We are working closely with partners in the region and beyond to ensure safe transport and immediate access to the best medical and psychiatric support we can offer.
‘Where exactly Jeff chooses to go will be a bit up to him.’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Niger earlier this month, with a senior official confirming that the release of Woodke was discussed during the trip.
The official confirmed that the US did not pay any ransom to terrorists and thanked the government of Niger who was involved in the efforts to secure his release.
They said: ‘There was no direct negotiation here between the US government and the terrorist organizations, it is worth making that clear.
‘Certainly, we did not pay a ransom a concession to a terrorist organization here.
‘Emerging as our best line of effort among many that we have tried over the years was working to see what a very good and capable and thankfully willing partner in Niger was able to deliver in their own engagement.’
In a statement Monday released through a family spokesman, Els Woodke said she had not yet had the chance to speak with her husband but had been told he was in good condition
The official confirmed that the US did not pay any ransom to terrorists and thanked the government of Niger who was involved in the efforts to secure his release
Woodke was abducted from his home by terrorist network JNIM which operates across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
He was released outside of Niger in the Mali-Burkina Faso area according to a senior Biden administration official.
He committed 25 years of his life to a ministry he founded in Niger, according to the Redwood Coast School of Missions, after moving from California.
During a 2021 news conference in Washington his wife, Els Woodke, said that her husband’s captors had made a multi-million-dollar ransom demand for his release.
She said at the time that she believed her husband was in the custody of a West African affiliate of al-Qaida known as JNIM and pleaded with the group’s leader to release him.
Woodke committed 25 years of his life to a ministry he founded in Niger before his abduction in 2016
During a 2021 news conference in Washington his wife, Els Woodke, said that her husband’s captors had made a multi-million-dollar ransom demand for his release
In a statement Monday released through a family spokesman, Els Woodke said she had not yet had the chance to speak with her husband but had been told he was in good condition.
They added: ‘She praises God for answering the prayers of Christians everywhere who have prayed for this outcome.’
Woodke was abducted by gunmen in the middle of the night, with his guardian and a National Guard soldier shot and killed during the incident.
His kidnapping was the first time an American citizen was taken in the vast Sahel region, where al-Qaeda and criminal gangs have long targeted French nationals and other Europeans for kidnappings and demanded millions of dollars for their release.
The abduction took place in the town of Abalak, northeast of the capital Niamey, in the Tahoua region of Niger.
Despite a peace accord and a 2013 international military intervention, large tracts of Mali are still not controlled by domestic or foreign troops and remain subject to attacks by jihadists.
