A US missionary working for evangelical Christian organisation SIM has been abducted in Niger’s capital Niamey, sources close to the case and diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
It marks the latest in a spate of kidnappings of westerners this year in northern Niger, a country plagued by jihadist violence and governed by a military junta for over two years.
The unnamed victim, a man in his 50s, is “already en route for the border with Mali,” a diplomatic source said after his seizure Tuesday.
SIM operates in several areas of Niger and across west Africa where it evangelises, assists local churches and hospitals or provides access to drinking water.
In April, a 67-year-old Swiss woman identified as “Claudia” was kidnapped in the northern city of Agadez, three months after the abduction of Austrian Eva Gretzmacher, 73, in the same city.
The Islamic State group in the Sahel was considered responsible for the two kidnappings, carried out by local criminal groups on its behalf, according to several observers of jihadist movements in the region.
In October 2020, American missionary Philip Walton was kidnapped in Massalata, a village located 400 kilometres (249 miles) from Niamey, near the Nigerian border.
He was freed the same month following intervention by US special forces in northern Nigeria.
American humanitarian worker Jeffery Woodke was kidnapped in October 2016 by jihadists, only to be freed in 2023.
Since 2023 Niger has been governed by a military junta that took power in a coup and ousted US and French forces that were assisting in the fight against jihadist violence which has destabilised the country.
“With our withdrawal from the region, we have lost our ability to monitor these terrorist groups closely but continue to liaison with partners to provide what support we can,” former head of the US Africa Command, General Michael Langley, said at the end of May.
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