American missionary Kevin Rideout, 50, who was kidnapped in West Africa's Niger last year, has been released after nine months.

According to Reuters and the U.S. daily The New York Times (NYT) on the 14th local time, SIM International, the Christian missionary organization Rideout belongs to, announced his release in a statement that day, stating that he is in good health and under the protection of U.S. authorities.

While the exact time of his release was not disclosed, the NYT, which first reported the release, stated the previous day that he was heading to the United States.

Rideout, a missionary and aircraft pilot, was abducted by three armed men on October 21 of last year in Niamey, the capital of Niger.

No armed group claimed responsibility for his abduction at the time.

Rideout was reportedly dragged toward the western Tillaberi region, where Islamic militant groups linked to the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda operate, and was also suspected of being detained by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda-linked organization in neighboring Mali.

Following Rideout's abduction, the U.S. Embassy in Niger issued a travel advisory for the country and urged its citizens to refrain from traveling to Niger.

At the time, the South Korean government also issued a Level 4 travel alert (Travel Ban) for all of Niger except the capital Niamey due to worsening security.

In Niger, a military junta led by then-Presidential Guard Commander Abdourahamane Tiani seized power in a coup in July 2023.

The military regime expelled Western countries such as the United States and France, which had stationed troops in Niger, and forged new security and diplomatic alliances with Russia.

However, like neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, the country has been plagued by attacks from Islamic extremist militant groups for over a decade.

In January and June of this year, gunfights with militant groups broke out around Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, resulting in numerous casualties among soldiers and militants.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)