French journalist Olivier Dubois has been released after almost two years in captivity: he was kidnapped on April 8, 2021 in Mali, in the Gao region (north) by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (Jnim), a subsidiary of Al in the Sahel -Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi).
He arrived free of charge at Niamey Airport on Monday March 20th. “I feel tired but I’m fine,” he said as he stepped off the plane, smiling and visibly moved, wearing a white shirt open over a T-shirt and tan pants.
“It’s great for me to be here, to be free, I wanted to pay tribute to Niger for its expertise in this delicate mission and to pay tribute to France and all those who have allowed me to be here today,” he added added in front of several journalists.
The journalist himself announced his kidnapping in a video posted on social networks on May 5, 2021. “He wanted to go to Gao to interview a jihadist leader. said Wassim Nasr, specialist on jihadism issues at France 24.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on December 10, 2022 during a trip to Côte d’Ivoire that France was doing “everything possible to facilitate the release” of the French journalist.
Olivier Dubois worked primarily for Liberation, Le Point and Jeune Afrique. Since the release of Sophie Pétronin, also kidnapped in Mali, in October 2020, he has been the only French hostage listed worldwide and not held by a state.
>> See also : Déborah Al Hawi Al Masri, companion of Olivier Dubois, hostage in Mali: “I do not lose hope”
The American hostage Jeffery Woodke was also freed
American Jeffery Woodke, kidnapped in Niger in October 2016, also arrived free of charge at Niamey Airport on Monday alongside Olivier Dubois. Jeffery Woodke, a Christian humanist who worked with an NGO to help nomads in Abalak, Niger, was kidnapped by jihadist groups on October 14, 2016 and taken to Mali, according to Nigerian security sources.
“The hostages were recovered safe and sound by Nigerian authorities before being handed over to French and American authorities,” Nigerian Interior Minister Hamadou Souley said at the airport on Monday.