Tag: Jeff Woodke

Niger: US aid worker Jeff Woodke faced ‘brutal’ treatment in captivity

April 4, 2023 Niger Al-Qaeda, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Mali, Niger, USA

Jeff Woodke with his wife Els addressing the media after his release, in McKinleyville, CA,on 31 March 2023

Jeff Woodke, the US Christian aid worker who was released from captivity in West Africa last month, has told reporters that that his abductors treated him “brutally and with inhumanity” during the “6 years, 5 months, 5 days and [some] 12 hours” they held him. Woodke had been living and . . . Read More

Niger: US aid worker Jeff Woodke released

March 20, 2023 Niger Abalak, Burkina Faso, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Mali, Niger

Jeff Woodke (Photo: Woodke's Facebook page)

After more than six years in captivity in West Africa, longtime American Christian aid worker Jeff Woodke has been released. His wife, Els Woodke, was told Jeff was “in good condition,” according to a statement on a website campaigning for his release. “She has expressed her profound thanks to the . . . Read More

Her co-hostage freed a year before; nun meets Pope after Islamists let her leave Mali

October 12, 2021 Mali Colombia, Gloria Argoti, Islamic extremism, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping

Sr. Gloria Argoti meets Pope Francis straight after being freed by Islamists in Mali, oct 10 2021

After almost 5 years as a captive of an Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group in Mali in West Africa, a Colombian nun, Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoti, has been freed. She was flown from Bamako, Mali’s capital, direct to Rome where Vatican Media posted photos of her being greeted by the Pope . . . Read More

Swiss woman, hostage almost 5 years, killed by Islamist extremists in Mali

October 10, 2020 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Beatrice Stockli, Burkina Faso, Gloria Argoti, Islamic extremism, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Niger

Beatrice Stockli settled in Timbuktu in 2000 and was first kidnapped for 10 days in 2012

A Swiss missionary Beatrice Stockli – kidnapped from Timbuktu in northern Mali in January 2016 – was killed only weeks before other hostages were freed by Islamist extremists, in an apparent prisoner-hostage swap negotiated by the new transitional government in Mali. News of her execution came from Sophie Petronin, a . . . Read More

Nigeriens call for Jeff Woodke’s release, 2 years after his abduction

November 13, 2018 Niger Abalak, Jeff Woodke, MUJAO, Niger

On the second anniversary of the disappearance of the American Christian aid worker Jeff Woodke from his home in Abalak, northern Niger, community leaders have called on Niger’s president to secure his release. Woodke, 57, who worked for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement (JEMED), was abducted by unknown assailants . . . Read More

Jeff Woodke’s wife releases third video plea for news of her husband

June 29, 2018 Niger Abalak, Jeff Woodke, Kidnapping, Mahamadou Issoufou, Niger, Sahel

The wife of an American missionary abducted 20 months ago in Africa’s Sahel region has put out a new video pleading for his safe return. In the 4’10’’ footage released on Tuesday (26 June), in French, Els Woodke reiterated her despair and desire to be in touch with her husband’s . . . Read More

US missionary, captive for 20 months, is alive, reports Niger’s president

June 7, 2018 Niger Abalak, Jeff Woodke, Mahamadou Issoufou, MUJAO, Niger, Sahel, West Africa

A US missionary kidnapped in Niger in October 2016 is alive, according to the West African nation’s president. Jeff Woodke, who worked for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement (JEMED) was abducted by unknown assailants late in the evening of Friday 14 October, 2016, from the town of Abalak in . . . Read More

US hostage’s wife asks his African captors to contact her

July 11, 2017 Niger Abalak, Jeff Woodke, Niger, Sahel

The wife of a pioneering American missionary abducted nine months ago in Africa’s Sahel region has put out a video pleading for his safe return. In the 2’26” video released today (11 July), Els Woodke expresses her despair and desire to be in touch with her husband’s kidnappers. Jeff Woodke, . . . Read More

African mission leader searches for positives despite deadly surge of jihadist violence

May 30, 2017 Africa, Boko Haram, Burkina Faso, Europe, Garissa, Gloria Argoti, Islamic extremism, Ivory Coast, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Lagos, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia

Attacks attributed to radical Islamic groups are happening on a weekly, or even daily, basis in Africa, posing security concerns across a vast swathe of the continent. The phenomenon has dramatically affected Church activities in various regions. But Rev. Reuben E. Ezemadu, Coordinator of the Movement for African National Initiatives . . . Read More

Four months on, no word on US missionary kidnapped in Niger

February 27, 2017 Niger Abalak, Ansar Dine, Jeff Woodke, MUJAO, Niamey, Tuareg

Jeff Woodke is known in Abalak for his devotion to Niger and its nomadic populations.Jeff Woodke / Facebook UPDATE (27 Feb 2017) It’s been more than four months since a pioneering American missionary was kidnapped in Niger. Jeff Woodke, who worked for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement, was . . . Read More

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