Washington DC - President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that an American missionary who was kidnapped in Niger last year has been reunited with his wife and will soon return to the US.

"I am happy to reveal that former hostage Kevin Rideout is getting ready to fly home to the United States after having been reunited with his beautiful wife, Krista," Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social on Sunday.

"This return marks the 110th captive American liberated since I was sworn in as President for a second time. I look forward to seeing Kevin and Krista at the White House soon!"

SIM International, the evangelical Christian missionary group Rideout worked for, said he was kidnapped from outside his home in the Nigerien capital Niamey last October.

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The group reported Rideout "was in good health in the care of US officials," after Trump announced his release on Friday, also in a post to social media.

Niger, governed by a military junta for three years, has been plagued by jihadist violence and saw a spate of kidnappings of Westerners last year. It's unclear which group held Rideout or where he was being held captive.

The New York Times, which first reported Rideout's release, said the 50-year-old American had worked as a missionary in Niger for 19 years, and was a pilot for SIM International.

Following Rideout's abduction, the State Department issued the highest level of travel advisory against Niger, saying travel to Niger should be avoided "for any reason due to crime, unrest, terrorism, health, and kidnapping."

In October 2020, US missionary Philip Walton was kidnapped in Massalata, a village 250 miles from Niamey, near the Nigerian border. He was freed the same month.

US humanitarian worker Jeffery Woodke was also kidnapped by jihadists in southwest Niger in October 2016 and freed in 2023.