The Government of the United States has disclosed that it has successfully secured the release of an American held hostage in Nigeria.
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United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, in a statement issued in Washington DC, said the United States is committed to the safe return of all United States citizens taken captive.
‘We delivered on that commitment late last night in Nigeria, where some of our bravest and most skilled warriors rescued a US citizen after a group of armed men took him hostage across the border in Niger,’ Pompeo said.
Pompeo expressed gratitude to the United States military forces for their extraordinary courage and capabilities.
‘Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our military, the support of our intelligence professionals, and our diplomatic efforts, the hostage will be reunited with his family.
‘We will never abandon any American taken hostage,’ Pompeo also said.
Reacting to the development, the United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria, in a message on its Facebook page, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for the rescue of its citizen.
‘We thank the Government of Nigeria for its partnership and support of this mission,’ the United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria said.
The mission, which was several hours long, was conducted by the Navy’s elite SEAL Team 6 who were flown to the region by Air Force special operations, a US official with knowledge of the operation told CNN.
The US forces who conducted the mission killed six of the seven captors, the official said. The US believes the captors have no known affiliation with any terror groups operating in the region, and were more likely bandits seeking money.
The State Department confirmed earlier this week that a US citizen had been abducted in Niger.
Local media outlets reported that the US citizen was a male missionary. CNN has not been able to confirm the citizen’s identity.
The governor of the local region where the abduction took place was quoted in various local media and by French media reporting from Niger as saying that six men on motorbikes armed with AK-47s came to the man’s property in the village of Massalata, close to the border with Nigeria.
The governor, Abdourahamane Moussa, told these media outlets that after demanding money, the men took the American citizen with them in the direction of the Nigerian border.
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