Who is Jeffery Woodke?
AN AMERICAN humanitarian worker was kidnapped from his home in West Africa in 2016.
After more than six years, he was freed on March 20, 2023, and many are curious to learn more about him.
Who is Jeffery Woodke?
Jeffery Woodke is a missionary and humanitarian worker who had worked in the west African nation of Niger for 32 years when he was kidnapped.
According to Woodke's wife, Els Woodke, he was kidnapped in 2016 by a terrorist group with ties to ISIS.
The website she set up says: "On October 14, 2016, some men drove to his house in the early evening in a small pickup truck, got out and killed both of Jeff’s guards, and forced Jeff into the truck at gunpoint.
"The truck was followed for a while by Jeff’s neighbors but was last seen driving into the night, north towards the Mali border."
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What did the US government trade for Woodke's freedom?
According to a top Biden official, no ransom or concessions were made for the militant group that held Jeffery Woodke.
Per USA Today, the same official "described the release as the culmination of years of effort but declined to say what exactly led to him being freed from captivity or where he is now."
The New York Times spoke with Jeffery Woodke's wife, who "was told that he was in Niamey, the capital of Niger, and later spoke with him for an hour."
She described him in an interview with The Times as being in “great spirits."
Most read in The US Sun
Who else was released with Jeffery Woodke?
After nearly two years in captivity, Olivier Dubois was also freed on Monday, March 20, 2023.
Dubois is a French journalist in Mali on assignment when he disappeared in April 2021.
He was later seen in footage released by the al-Qaeda affiliate in the country.
Both men are currently being medically evaluated before they are allowed to return home.