(Vélizy-Villacoublay) French journalist Olivier Dubois, hostage for nearly two years of jihadists in Mali, landed in France on Tuesday, after his release the day before at the same time as that of an American hostage held for his part for more six years old.
Olivier Dubois was welcomed shortly after noon by his relatives and by President Emmanuel Macron at the Villacoublay air base, southwest of the capital.
Dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt and black pants, a shoulder bag, he appeared very smiling and in good shape after five hours of travel from Niamey. He was to find his wife and children in the process and then speak for a few minutes with the head of state.
On Monday, he met journalists shortly after his release accompanied by Jeffery Woodke, an American humanitarian who had been kidnapped on October 14, 2016 in Niger.
Olivier Dubois was kidnapped on April 8, 2021 in Gao, northern Mali, by GSIM, the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel linked to Al-Qaeda. He collaborated in particular with the daily Liberation and the magazine Le Point and lived in Mali since 2015.
The 48-year-old reporter, who is unknown if he remained in Mali throughout his detention, was the last known Frenchman to be held hostage by an organization other than a state since the release in October 2020 of Sophie Pétronin, also kidnapped in Mali.
“It’s huge for me to be here, to be free, I wanted to pay tribute to Niger for its know-how in this delicate mission and to pay tribute to France and to all those who allowed me to be here today,” he said on Monday.
President Macron had for his part expressed his “ tremendous relief ” and testified to his “ great gratitude to Niger for this release ”.
Alongside Olivier Dubois, Jeffery Woodke, 61, white hair and supported by a cane, wanted to “thank the Nigerien, American and French governments” for his release. “Vive la France”, exclaimed the man who had been kidnapped when he had been helping nomadic populations for thirty years with an NGO in Abalak, in central Niger.
The circumstances of the release of the two men remain unknown for the time being, while relations between France and the ruling junta in Mali have become considerably strained. Paris notably withdrew all of the soldiers who were deployed there as part of the anti-jihadist operation Barkhane.
“ The hostages were recovered safe and sound by the Nigerien authorities before being handed over to the French and American authorities ”, Nigerien Minister of the Interior Hamadou Souley simply declared on Monday at the airport.
During his 711 days of detention, only two videos of Olivier Dubois had been published on social networks. The first on May 5, 2021 where he himself announced his kidnapping and another, after almost a year of silence, broadcast on March 13, 2022, with no indication of the date on which the images had been shot.
“ It’s just incredible, it’s something we’ve been waiting for two years. For him the nightmare is over, and for his family too. He will be able to resume his life, even if it will be difficult for him to forget that,” Olivier Dubois’ sister, Canèle Bernard, told AFP on Monday.
The editorial staff of Liberation also expressed their “ tremendous joy ”.
Mali, like its neighbors Niger and Burkina Faso, is going through a serious security crisis with recurrent jihadist attacks.
Kidnappings are one of the serious dangers faced by journalists and humanitarian workers, both local and foreign, in the Sahel.
Two employees of the Malian branch of the International Committee of the Red Cross kidnapped between Gao and Kidal, in northern Mali two weeks ago, were released on Sunday evening.
At least three Western hostages are still being held in the Sahel: Australian surgeon Arthur Kenneth Elliott, kidnapped on January 15, 2016, and Romanian security officer Iulian Ghergut, kidnapped on April 4, 2015, both in Burkina Faso. A German cleric, Father Hans-Joachim Lohre, of whom we have not heard from since November 2022, is considered to have been kidnapped in Mali.
