An American citizen has been kidnapped by gunmen in southern Niger, a senior official told AFP on Tuesday, October 27, 2020.
The American, described as the son of a missionary living in Niger, was abducted by six men armed with AK-47 assault rifles on the outskirts of Massalata, a village about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border with Nigeria, said the prefect of the Birni Nkonni department, Ibrahim Abba Lele.
They left on three motorcycles, heading for the border, he said, an account confirmed by the village chief, Ibrahim Dagual.
A man named Bruce Walton told local radio station Niyya that his son Philip Walton had been kidnapped from his home overnight by armed men.
“During the night six men, possibly Fulani, came on foot,” he said, referring to a nomadic ethnic group also known as Peuls.
“They were looking for money in the house but there was not enough. There were only 20,000 CFA francs ($35, 30 euros). After that, they left with him,” he said.
“All six men were armed,” Walton said, adding that they spoke in Hausa with a few words of English.
Philip Walton had been living in Massalata with his wife and a child for two years, according to his father, who himself lives in Birni Nkonni and has been in Niger for nearly 30 years.
The US State Department said it was aware of an American citizen abducted in Niger.
“We are providing their family all possible consular assistance,” it said.
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