Concern is growing over the whereabouts of Kevin Rideout, an American missionary abducted on October 21 in the West African state of Niger. The seizure of this 48-year-old pilot, who works for the U.S.-based organization Serving in Mission, has highlighted the ongoing plight of the people he serves—the region’s Christians, who face increasing violence at the hands of predatory jihadists.
Rideout is said to have been snatched by three armed men outside a hotel in the Chateau 1 neighborhood of the capital, Niamey—an area that is reputedly more secure than the rest of the city because it contains the country’s presidential palace. Rideout, who has lived in Niger since 2010, has not been heard from since his phone was last tracked in an area around 50 miles north of Niamey, where terrorists belonging to the Islamic State-Sahel Province (ISSP) maintain a large presence.
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