US hostage’s wife in Africa reveals ransom

WASHINGTON — The wife of an American humanitarian worker who was kidnapped in Niger five years ago said Wednesday that her husband’s captors have made a multimillion-dollar ransom demand but U.S. government “restrictions” have hindered her ability to raise the sum.

Els Woodke said she believes her husband, Jeff Woodke, is in the custody of a West African affiliate of al-Qaida known as JNIM and that she received information indicating he was alive as of this summer. She said the group’s leader, Iyad Ag Ghali, has a history of negotiating for the release of hostages, and she pleaded directly with him on Wednesday to free her husband.

“You are the only one with the power to make that happen. Releasing Jeff will require compassion and mercy, but these are the characteristics of a strong and courageous leader,”

Woodke said in remarks addressed to Ghali in English and French.

In her most extensive remarks yet about her husband’s ordeal, she also expressed her discontent with aspects of the U.S. government’s approach. She said she has been repeatedly told over the years that if she discloses details about her husband’s case, she will be cut off from receiving additional information.

She also said the captors have demanded a multimilliondollar ransom, though precise sums have not been consistent and U.S. officials have not facilitated her efforts to pay.

“I have also had so many restrictions imposed by the U.S. government that any meaningful attempt to raise a ransom is effectively prohibited,” she said.