By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-08-14 19:25:21 | Updated at 2026-08-14 21:41:42
2 hours ago
An American missionary pilot who was held captive in Niger for nine months has been released to U.S. officials, the Christian organization he worked for said on Friday.
Kevin Rideout was kidnapped by three unknown men from outside his home in the west African nation’s capital, Niamey, on Oct. 21, 2025, according to Charlotte-based Christian missionary organization Serving in Mission.
President Donald Trump confirmed on Truth Social that Rideout “was kidnapped by Jihadi terrorists” but is now back in U.S. custody.
“Kevin, the United States of America looks forward to welcoming you HOME,” he wrote. “Glad to have helped!”
The men who took him later headed toward the western Tillaberi region of Niger, where Islamic terrorists are active. It’s not clear which group captured him.
‘In Good Health’
“We are grateful to confirm that our good friend and brother in Christ, Kevin Rideout, has been released after over nine months in captivity,” Serving in Mission, which carries out missionary work in 70 different countries, said in a statement on Aug. 14.
“Kevin is in good health in the care of US officials,” the organization said, adding that Rideout will be reunited with his family soon.
Rideout is on his way to the United States and was with officials from the FBI, according to The New York Times, which first reported the news on Thursday.
Niger, a country of about 27 million people, is more than 98 percent Muslim, while less than 2 percent of the population is Christian.
Citing an unnamed U.S. official, The New York Times said that Rideout was in good health, based on proof-of-life images that were provided to American officials in the past 48 hours.
‘Heightened Concern’
A day after the kidnapping, the U.S. Embassy in Niger warned of a “heightened concern about the threat of kidnapping” and upped its security requirements for Embassy personnel.
Separately, the U.S. government issued a travel warning in the following days, warning its citizens against traveling to Niger, citing crime, unrest, terrorism, health and kidnapping.
It was not clear precisely how or when he was released, or which group was holding him at the end of his captivity, The New York Times reported, adding he may have recently moved.
Surge in Attacks
Niger, a landlocked country, has witnessed a surge in attacks from terrorist groups linked to al Qaeda and ISIS, particularly along its southern border with Nigeria and in the tri-border region with Mali and Burkina Fas.
The country is ruled by a military junta that took power in 2023 after deposing the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum. The junta ousted Western partners including the United States, which until then had soldiers in Niger.
Reports of kidnappings increased in 2025 in areas of West Africa where terrorists operate, with an Austrian woman abducted in January and a Swiss citizen in April, both in Niger.
Five Indian nationals working for a company providing services to Niger’s Kandadji dam project were kidnapped during an attack by armed men in April 2025, with a dozen soldiers also killed in the violence.
In May, U.S. and Nigerian forces killed senior ISIS commander Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, with Trump saying in a Truth Social post that he had been “eliminated.”
Trump last year accused the Nigerian state of failing to protect Christians from Islamist terrorists, and has made the return of Americans held hostage or imprisoned abroad a key foreign policy focus for his administration.
In his Truth Social post welcoming Rideout’s release, Trump said West Africa is “The epicenter of Islamist terrorism, where there have been more deadly attacks in the past year than anywhere else on Earth.”
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
