Gunmen have kidnapped an American missionary pilot, Mr. Kevin Rideout, in Niamey, the capital of the Republic of Niger.
According to an intelligence report quoted by security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, on Wednesday, Rideout, who works with the American denominational NGO, SIM International, through its local affiliate Missionary Flights Global (MFG), was abducted on Monday night by unidentified armed men.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the kidnappers may have fled toward the Tillabéri region, a volatile area frequently targeted by armed groups operating along Niger’s western border.
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Rideout, who has reportedly been operating in Niger since 2010, is a missionary pilot engaged in training aviation pilots for evangelical, medical, church planting, and emergency humanitarian air transport operations across the Sahel.
Security agencies in Niger have launched a search and rescue operation in collaboration with local and international partners to track the abductors and ensure the safe release of the American national.