French journalist Olivier Dubois arrived free on Monday March 20 at Niamey airport, nearly two years after he was kidnapped by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) in Mali.
When he got off the plane, Olivier Dubois appeared smiling and visibly moved, dressed in an open white shirt and beige pants.
The release of Olivier Dubois is a “huge relief” after 711 days spent in Mali in captivity, “the longest for a French journalist held hostage since the war in Lebanon”, welcomed Reporters Without Borders.
Olivier #Dubois released after almost 2 years (711 days) of captivity. Huge emotion at Niamey airport pic.twitter.com/vOwYD5Z8ps
— Stanislas Poyet (@stanislas_poyet) March 20, 2023
“We had had reassuring news on several occasions in recent months, and again very recently: he seemed in good shape, but the length of his captivity worried us,” commented RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire.
The American humanitarian Jeffery Woodke, kidnapped in October 2016 in Niger also arrived free Monday at Niamey airport. A Christian humanitarian who came to the aid of nomadic populations with an NGO in Abalak in Niger, Jeffery Woodke was kidnapped on October 14, 2016 by jihadist groups and taken to Mali according to Nigerien security sources.
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