An American missionary is now under the mercy of a drug-trafficking jihadist group in the West African country of Niger after the Islamist militants attacked his home, killed two of his guards and kidnapped him, The Christian Post reports.
The missionary, identified as 55-year-old Jeffery Woodke of McKinlyville, California, was reportedly even forced to strip down to his underwear before he was abducted on Friday. A Niger government source told CNN that removing clothes from hostages was a usual practice of terrorist groups trying to avoid being tracked.
Woodke has been living in Niger since 1992 and is a long-time aid worker with Youth With A Mission charity, according to the Independent. He is now believed to be in the hands of a drug-trafficking jihadist group called The Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).
According to a Paris Match report, Woodke's kidnapping could be the result of a dispute concerning a stolen drug shipment which implicates a local government official. Woodke, the report said, is being used as collateral.
On Friday night, the gunmen raided Woodke's house in central Niger, killing his guard and housekeeper before driving him across the desert toward Mali, Reuters reported.
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The Associated Press said Woodke's abduction was a first for an American citizen in the Sahel region of Africa, where al-Qaeda and criminal gangs have targeted French and other European nationals for more than a decade, demanding millions of dollars in ransom.
Woodke is listed as an instructor at Redwood Coast School of Missions, which is operated by the Arcata First Baptist Church.
In a statement on Facebook on Saturday, the church said it is "praying for the safety of Jeff, for the victims' families and for peace in the region."
"Jeff Woodke is a home grown product of Arcata First Baptist Church where as a student at Humboldt State University he gave his life to Christ," the church said on the school's website.
"Jeff's passion in providing humanitarian aid to those who are amongst the poorest in the world, coupled with his desire to see God's Kingdom advanced in a largely Muslim world has played a large part in the life and ministry of AFBC," the church added.
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