A US missionary working for the evangelical Christian organisation SIM has been abducted in Niger’s capital, Niamey, officials confirmed on Wednesday. The kidnapping marks the latest in a wave of abductions targeting Westerners across Niger, a nation gripped by militant violence and ruled by a military junta for more than two years.
The unnamed man, believed to be in his 50s, was reportedly “en route to the border with Mali,” a region known as a militant stronghold, according to diplomatic sources. The US State Department confirmed the abduction and said its embassy in Niamey was coordinating efforts to secure the man’s safe release.
SIM, which operates in several parts of West Africa, engages in evangelism, humanitarian aid, and community development, including healthcare and access to clean water. According to Wamaps, a collective of West African journalists, the abducted missionary was a pilot who had been based in Niger since 2010, conducting humanitarian air transport.
He was reportedly seized just streets away from the presidential palace, in an area home to numerous international organisations. No group has claimed responsibility, and no ransom has been demanded, Wamaps added. This latest abduction follows the kidnappings of two European women in the northern city of Agadez earlier this year, both reportedly linked to Islamic State affiliates operating through local criminal networks.
American missionaries have been targeted before. In 2020, Philip Walton was freed after a US special forces raid, while Jeffery Woodke was released in 2023 after being held for seven years. Niger remains at the heart of West Africa’s security crisis, facing relentless attacks from Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda- and Islamic State-linked militant groups near its borders with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria.