Niger – Philip Walton a 27-year old American missionary was abducted in the middle of the night by six gunmen armed with assault rifles in southern Niger close to the border with Nigeria on Tuesday.
He was living with his family for two years, raising sheep and farming in the remote town. It sis suspected that the armed men initially demanded for money before taking Walton and then tying up his wife, young daughter and his brother.
According to Andrea Morris of Faithwire, “They were looking for money in the house but there was not enough. There were only 20,000 CFA francs ($35). After that, they left with him,” said Philip’s father, Bruce Walton.
The US State Department has also acknowledged that an American citizen had been abducted in Niger but offered no further details.
The Sahel region of West Africa is known to be the hotbed of terrorist like Boko Haram and bandits. They regularly operate across the border regions of Nigeria, Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroun and have several cases of beheadings and kidnappings.
[1] Andrea Morris, (Oct 28,2020 ), Faithwire.com, Gunmen Invade Home in Middle of Night, Abduct American Missionary in West Africa, Retrieved October 29, 2020
[2] Armed men Photo by Scott Nelson/Getty Images
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