A South African paramedic, Gerco van Deventer, who was kidnapped by jihadists in Libya in 2017 and held captive in Mali for over six years, has been released.
The 48-year-old was abducted on his way to a power plant construction site in Libya. Three Turkish engineers, who were kidnapped alongside him were released seven months later.
Van Deventer remained in captivity, and was later moved to Mali.
According to security and humanitarian sources, he was released on the Mali-Algeria border, and is currently under observation at a hospital in Algiers.
The release was confirmed by the South African charity Gift of the Givers, which mediated efforts for his freedom.
Gift of the Givers stated that they got involved at van Deventer’s family’s request. They negotiated with the Al-Qaeda-linked group, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), to whom he was sold in 2018.
The charity claimed that the initial ransom demand was $3 million dollars, eventually negotiated down to $500,000. However, it did not specify if the ransom was paid, mentioning that the family could not afford it.
Van Deventer, an emergency paramedic working for a security company, had been the subject of ongoing negotiations over the years.
His family, including his wife and three children, had made appeals for his release, emphasising their desperate need for his return. The COVID-19 pandemic had temporarily halted negotiations, but efforts resumed earlier this year.
Libya has been marked by political instability and violent conflict since the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Libya fell into a prolonged civil war, resulting in divided authorities, economic collapse, and a humanitarian crisis.
Last month, a Libyan National Army (LNA) brigade successfully freed a Chinese national from a gang, near the southern Libyan border.
The brigade issued a statement confirming a raid on a compound used by a criminal gang, from Chad, Niger, and Sudan. The gang is engaged in robbery, drug trafficking, kidnapping, and extortion.