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18 November 2019In addition to Silvia Romano there are eight other people still in the hands of kidnappers in Africa, all kidnapped between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso at the hands of jihadist groups linked to Al Quaida. Among them doctors, officials and men and women of the church.Father Pier Luigi Maccalli
Among these was an Italian missionary, Father Pier Luigi Maccalli, kidnapped in Niger last September 17th. We know that he is alive and well. It is supported by the bishop of the diocese of Niamey, Monsignor Djalwana Laurent Lompo. The prelate gave no more detailed details for "security reasons" and could not explain "on what elements he bases this statement". Silence fell on this story. In addition to the Italian diplomatic representation, in Niger there are also Italian soldiers operating on the ground. Although agreements have been signed with that country on the Maccalli affair, everything is silent. There is no certain news of where Father Maccalli is and what steps are being taken for his release.
Luca Tacchetto
Very little information for the young Italian who disappeared into thin air in Burkina Faso. We have no more news of Luca Tacchetto and Edith Blais since December 16, 2018. The Italian and his Canadian friend reached Burkina Faso by car - they left Italy - after passing through Mauritania and Mali, to then reach Togo. Luca and Edith were headed to Kpalimé, a town in Togo, where they were to join a non-governmental organization linked to the environment. We no longer know anything about them, five months without news. The last time they were seen in the southwestern city of the country, Bobo Dioulassou. The story is shrouded in mystery.
The others
On 4 April 2015, the Romanian citizen Iulian Ghergut was seized in Burkina Faso at the hands of Islamists linked to Al Quaida. The man is a security officer in a magnesium mine in the north of the country.
On January 7, 2016, Beatrice Stockly, a missionary of the Swiss Methodist Church, was kidnapped in the north-west of Mali. The woman had lived in this area for years. It is known that it is alive, but nothing else.
On January 15, 2016, Australian surgeon Arthur Kenneth Elliott, who was retired and engaged in humanitarian activities in a kidnapping clinic, was kidnapped in Burkina Faso in the Djibo area, a city on the border with Mali and Niger. His wife was also kidnapped with him, however, a few weeks later.
On 24 December 2016, 73-year-old Frenchwoman Sophie Petronin, founder of the "Aid Association in Gao" operating in the field of child well-being, was kidnapped in Gao, northern Mali.
On February 8, 2017, the Colombian, Franciscan religious, Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoti, was kidnapped. The kidnapping took place in a church in the rural area in northern Mali, in the locality of Karangasso, at the hands of jihadists linked to the Group to support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), close to Al Quaida.