California Missionary Details Years of Torture After Niger Kidnapping

A California man who was kidnapped and held hostage for nearly seven years in Niger has detailed the horrific abuse he endured, including being beaten, drugged, and confined in a small box for extended periods.

Jeff Woodke, a missionary worker originally from McKinleyville, California, was abducted from his home in Abalak, Niger, on October 14, 2016. He spoke out about his ordeal three years after his release in March 2023, hoping his experience can help others recover from trauma.

Woodke described the initial moments of his abduction to The Christian Post, recounting how his captors "beat the stuffing out of me and drugged me, threw me in their vehicle." He still bears indentations in his skull from the beating.

His captivity involved long periods of isolation, chained by his ankles and sleeping on the ground in the West African desert, where temperatures could reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit. During the rainy season, he was forced to sleep outdoors during floods. His diet was limited to rice or a dough-like staple with red sauce and occasional dried goat meat.

One of the most psychologically damaging experiences was a two-month period when his captors confined him during the day inside a box measuring approximately four feet wide, four feet long, and four feet high. Woodke could not stand upright in the confined space, and his captors refused to speak to him, which he said was an attempt to break him psychologically.

"I basically went nuts for a while. Lost time. Lost a lot," Woodke stated.

He was eventually held by different brigades operating under JNIM, an al-Qaida-linked coalition. Woodke said his treatment varied between groups, with his initial captors being particularly cruel. The prolonged isolation and physical abuse severely weakened him, leading to difficulty walking and suicidal thoughts.

At one point, Woodke began a hunger strike, praying for death. "I kind of lost my religion, but I gained my faith," he reflected, noting that while he could no longer pray for hours, he continued to pray for his family.

Woodke was released in March 2023, more than six years after his abduction. The White House stated that the United States did not pay a ransom or make concessions for his release, describing it as a "collaborative effort."

Returning home did not end the trauma. Woodke expressed fear that his family might have died during the COVID-19 pandemic due to his lack of information from the outside world. He struggled to readjust to normal life, explaining that he had to relearn "what it meant to be a human being again, rather than an animal."

His experience also shaped his views on the growing extremist threat in the Sahel region. He believes poverty, lack of education, neglect, foreign influence, and radicalization contribute to militant groups recruiting young men by offering them money, weapons, phones, motorcycles, and status.

Woodke warned Western missionaries against entering dangerous areas of the region, stating, "If they go in there right now, they’re just going to get taken hostage again."

Reflecting on his ordeal, which exposed him to "the worst and the best" of humanity, Woodke concluded that hatred cannot conquer hatred. "The only way we’re going to conquer it is not through politics and rhetoric and dogma and exclusion, but through love."