American missionary kidnapped in Niger said to be released from captivity

Kevin Rideout, an American missionary pilot who was seized in Niger last fall, is in U.S. custody and on his way to the United States, two U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The release of Rideout, a 50-year-old pilot who was kidnapped in October outside his home in Niger’s capital, Niamey, while working with an evangelical group, has been a priority for the White House and the military’s Africa Command since his abduction.

Details of how and precisely where Rideout was released were unclear late Thursday, said the two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. It was also unclear which terrorist or criminal group held Rideout at the end of his captivity, as he may have been moved recently, one of the two officials said.

Rideout was in FBI custody and in good health based on proof-of-live images that were provided to U.S. officials in the past 48 hours, one of the officials said.

The White House and Pentagon did not respond immediately to requests for comment late Thursday.

Rideout had been working in Niger as a Christian missionary for 19 years. He was also a pilot for Serving in Mission, an organization based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that describes itself as a “global mission family serving in 70 countries” with a focus on outreach to communities with few Christians.

In the past year, the U.S. military has been helping neighboring Nigeria with training and surveillance in its fight against jihadis. Nigeria also allowed the United States to fly surveillance missions from its bases, in part to try to locate Rideout.

In December, the United States carried out missile strikes in northwestern Nigeria that President Donald Trump said targeted Islamic State group fighters. That operation was in coordination with the Nigerian military, the Pentagon said at the time.

Thousands of Christians and Muslims have been killed in Nigeria in land disputes, sectarian violence and terrorism, which Christian activists and Republican lawmakers in the United States have viewed as the persecution of Christians. There is no clear evidence to show that Christians are attacked more frequently than any other religious group in Nigeria, analysts say.

In May, U.S. and Nigerian forces killed Abu Bilal al-Minuki, one of the Islamic State group’s highest-ranking leaders, in an operation in Nigeria.

U.S. officials said that al-Minuki oversaw the Islamic State group’s global operations, media, recruitment and finances. In that position, the officials said, al-Minuki was directly involved in plots like the kidnapping of Rideout.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.