On the night of Tuesday, October 21, 2025, the streets of Niamey, Niger’s capital, were anything but quiet. In a brazen act that has sent shockwaves through the international community, American missionary pilot Kevin Rideout was abducted from his home by three armed men. The kidnapping, which occurred just a few streets away from the presidential palace in a zone housing international organizations, highlights the deepening insecurity in a region increasingly gripped by jihadist violence.
Rideout, in his early 50s, has been a familiar figure in Niger since 2010. According to reports from Reuters and CBS News, he works with Serving in Mission (SIM International), an evangelical Christian agency dedicated to training missionary aviation pilots, supporting medical and church-planting ministries, and providing urgent humanitarian air transport across West Africa. His work has made him a lifeline for remote communities, delivering both aid and hope in a region where both are in short supply.
The details of the abduction are chilling. Security sources, quoted by ACI Africa and other outlets, say the kidnappers drove a Toyota Corolla and made their getaway under cover of darkness, heading west toward the Tillabéri region and the border with Mali—a notorious stronghold for jihadist groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Within hours, Rideout’s phone was tracked to an area about 56 miles north of Niamey, deep inside territory considered a sanctuary for Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. As of Thursday, October 23, no group had claimed responsibility and, perhaps most ominously, no ransom demand had been made.
The U.S. State Department confirmed the abduction on Wednesday, October 22, and immediately sprang into action. "It is a top priority for the Trump Administration to look after the safety of every American, and we are seeing efforts from across the U.S. government to support the recovery and safe return of this U.S. citizen," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. The U.S. Embassy in Niger has since imposed stricter security measures—requiring armored vehicles for embassy personnel, enforcing curfews, and declaring restaurants and open-air markets off-limits. A security alert was issued, citing "heightened concern about the threat of kidnapping."
Rideout’s abduction is the latest in a troubling series of kidnappings targeting Westerners in Niger, a country that has seen its security unravel since a military junta ousted the elected government in July 2023. The coup led to the expulsion of U.S. and French forces, who had been instrumental in supporting Niger’s fight against jihadist groups. General Michael Langley, former head of U.S. Africa Command, lamented this loss of oversight: "With our withdrawal from the region, we have lost our ability to monitor these terrorist groups closely but continue to liaison with partners to provide what support we can."
The context is grim. Niger, part of the Central Sahel region, has become the epicenter of jihadist activity in sub-Saharan Africa. According to Illia Djadi, Senior Analyst for Freedom of Religion and Belief in Africa at Open Doors International, "That’s the area [Central Sahel] now all analysts and observers agree has become the new epicenter of jihad or terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa, because that’s the only area where we have al-Qaeda affiliate and Islamic State affiliates operating." The Tillabéri region, bordering Mali and Burkina Faso, is particularly volatile, with frequent attacks by groups linked to Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, and Islamic State.
Rideout’s kidnapping occurred within 100 yards of the presidential palace, where deposed President Mohamed Barzoum has been under house arrest since the 2023 coup. The audacity of the attackers—striking so close to the seat of power—underscores just how emboldened these groups have become.
For Niger’s tiny Christian community, which makes up just 1% of the population, the abduction is a fresh wound in a year already marked by violence and displacement. Djadi described the plight of Christians in western Niger: "Hundreds of Christians have been displaced because the predominantly Christian community in that area has been attacked. They got the warning to convert [to Islam] or to go, so they prefer to go." The church, he added, is deeply affected by the ongoing insurgency.
International observers and local security officials suspect the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara is behind the kidnapping, though the lack of a ransom demand has left experts uneasy. Bryan Stern, founder of the Grey Bull Rescue crisis response group, explained the risks: "It’s easy to understand who took somebody, but once people start getting traded around like cards and stuff, it’s hard to then understand what the current holding party wants... The worst case scenario is a hostage taken by someone who doesn’t want anything. Then there’s no play to be made other than find them and kill them, and hopefully you survive that process."
Rideout is not the first Western missionary targeted in Niger. In October 2020, American missionary Philip Walton was kidnapped in Massalata, near the Nigerian border, and freed later that month by U.S. special forces. Jeffery Woodke, another American humanitarian worker, was abducted in 2016 and only released in 2023. In April, a Swiss woman named Claudia and, earlier, Austrian Eva Gretzmacher were kidnapped in the northern city of Agadez—attacks attributed to the Islamic State group acting through local criminal networks.
The rise in abductions comes amid a broader surge of violence against Christians across Africa. In Nigeria, Niger’s southern neighbor, thousands of Christians have been killed in recent years, with attacks often carried out by Islamist militants. The violence has spilled over into neighboring countries, leaving communities in perpetual fear.
Amid the uncertainty, Niger’s Christian and missionary communities have turned to prayer. Fr. Etienne Tandamba of Burkina Faso’s Fada N’Gourma Diocese appealed for solidarity: "We pray for an urgent and safe release. We pray for his family. We pray for the community of missionary and expat [persons] in Niger." Djadi echoed the call: "Continue to pray and to pay attention [to] what is happening in Niger, in central Sahel, and particularly also in sub-Saharan Africa."
As the search for Kevin Rideout continues, his plight serves as a stark reminder of the dangers faced by aid workers and missionaries in the Sahel. For now, hope rests on the efforts of diplomats, security forces, and a global community united in prayer for his safe return.
