Source: God Reports, October 24, 2025
In the sweltering heart of Niamey, Niger’s capital, an American missionary’s routine evening walk to the airport turned into a harrowing abduction.
Kevin Rideout, a 50-year-old pilot with Serving in Mission (SIM), was seized by three armed men on Tuesday night, October 21, in the Plateau neighborhood, a few blocks from the presidential palace where deposed leader Mohamed Bazoum remains under house arrest since last year’s coup, according to Reuters.
Rideout, who has faithfully served in Niger since 2010 flying aid workers and medical supplies across the Sahel’s vast expanses, was shoved into a Toyota Corolla and driven toward the volatile Tillabéri region near the Mali border, a jihadist stronghold where Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and other al-Qaeda affiliates have control, a diplomat told AFP.
Read the full story with pictures.
See also US Missionary Pilot Kidnapped in Niger (Christianity Today) and Kidnapping of missionary underscores insurgency in the Sahel region (Mission Network News), both of which include helpful context and analysis. Note that while no Americans have been kidnapped there since 2020, incidents like this have been on the rise in this volatile country. Please pray.
Persecution in neighboring Nigeria is in the headlines. For one take on what is happening, read 10 things you should know about violence in Nigeria (Evangelical Focus).
In another part of the world, the High Court of Malaysia has ruled that the government was behind the kidnapping of pastor Raymond Koh eight years ago and ordered payments to his wife Susannah of more than US$8 million, as well as additional daily payments until her husband is found (Mission Network News). Read more or watch Susannah make a statement following the verdict.