10/17/2018 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – Dr. Ken Elliot has now spent more than 1000 days in the captivity of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb(AQIM). It was on 15 January, 2016 when Dr. Elliot and his wife, Jocelyn, were taken from their home in Burkina Faso by the Mali based terror organization. Jocelyn was quickly released in February of that same year, and has continued to live in Burkina Faso since her release. She has said that she would not leave Burkina Faso because she wanted to be with her Burkina family, showing her care for this country.
Dr. Elliot and his wife had been running a hospital in Djibo. The hospital could hold 120 patients, but has since been closed due to Dr. Elliot’s absence. He was the only surgeon in the area and made his services free to those people, a population of about 2 million. For the work he was doing, he was given the nicknames “the Doctor of the Poor” and “Savior of the Sahel”.
The last that has been known about his condition was in a proof of life video released by the group in July, 2017. In the video, 5 other hostages were shown to be alive and allowed to ask for help with Dr. Elliot. Since then, one of the hostages has been released, Stephen McGowan of South Africa. Since his release, he has spoken about the time he spent in captivity and how he converted to Islam. This may be the only reason he was released, and why Dr. Elliot may not have been, as he has likely not converted.
For interviews with Nathan Johnson, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org
