French journalist Olivier Dubois and U.S. aid worker Jeffery Woodke were both presented at a news conference on Monday in Niger's capital after being held hostage for years by Islamist militants.
"After several months of efforts, Nigerien authorities obtained the liberation of the two hostages from the hands of , an active terrorist group in West Africa and the Sahel," Niger's interior minister Hamadou Adamou Souley told journalists at the airport, flanked by the two men.Dubois, who disappeared from Mali's northern city of Gao in April 2021, appeared in a video last August, urging authorities to do everything they could to free him from his Islamist captors.
"It's huge for me to be here today," he said on Monday. "I wasn't expecting it at all. I feel tired but I'm well."White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan"I’m gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity," Sullivan said on Twitter. "The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him.
Those groups have repeatedly declared French citizens in West Africa to be targets since a 2013 military intervention by France drove them back a year earlier. Reporting by Boureima Balima in Niamey; Lucien Libert, Elizabeth Pineau and John Irish in Paris; Writing by GV De Clercq and Sofia Christensen; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Bate Felix and Nick Macfie
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