An elderly Perth doctor held hostage by Islamic militants in West Africa for seven years was back in the arms of his wife and children in WA on Friday
Ken Elliott, 88, was “safe and well” and back home in Perth with his family after finally being freed by his captors and returned to Australia.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Dr Elliott was reunited with his family on Thursday after being released earlier in the week.
In 2016, Dr Elliott and his wife Jocelyn were kidnapped in Burkina Faso, where they had run a medical clinic for four decades and saved countless lives.
Ms Elliott was released three weeks later.
“We wish to express our thanks to God and all who have continued to pray for us,” Mr Elliott’s family said in a statement released on Friday.
“We express our relief that Dr Elliott is free and thank the Australian Government and all who have been involved over time to secure his release,” the family statement said.
“At 88 years of age, and after many years away from home, Dr Elliott now needs time and privacy to rest and rebuild strength,” the family added.
The Foreign Minister said no ransom was paid to secure the doctor’s freedom, but no other details on his release were disclosed.
“The Australian government has a clear policy that we do not pay ransoms,” Ms Wong said.
“What we have done over the last seven years is ensure that we worked with other governments and local authorities in relation to Dr Elliott.
“I want to publicly thank all of the Government officials who have worked to ensure Dr Elliott’s release.”
“I’m sure Australians wish Dr Elliott and his family well.”
“We acknowledge the strength and resilience Dr Elliott and members of his family have shown through the most difficult of circumstances,” she added.
The militant group behind the kidnapping, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, rose to prominence in large part through kidnap-for-ransom operations targeting foreign aid workers and tourists.
On the day the Australian couple were kidnapped 30 people were killed in an extremist attack in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou.
Al-Qaida’s North Africa wing claimed responsibility for that attack and other high-profile strikes in West Africa months earlier, including killing 20 people in an attack on a hotel in Mali’s capital Bamako.
The Elliotts, who have three children, were kidnapped near the northern Burkina Faso town of Djibo, near the border with Mali and Niger.
Jocelyn Elliott was freed in neighbouring Niger. Niger’s then-President Mahamadou Issoufou had worked with Burkina Faso intelligence services to secure her release, his office said at the time.
The couple’s children released a statement at the time, imploring their father’s captors to release him as well.
“We are trusting that the moral and guiding principles of those who have released our mother will also be applied to our elderly father, who has served the community of Djibo and the Sahel for more than half his lifetime,” they said.
“We respectfully request that they be allowed to continue their work together, providing essential surgical services.”
Career missionaries for decades, Dr and Mrs Elliott had run a 120-bed clinic in Burkina Faso since 1972 they ran a medical clinic. Dr Elliott worked as a surgeon at the clinic, in the town of Djibo, near the borders with Niger and Mali.
“I regularly operate five to six hours a day for six days of the week. The needs are unimaginable and we tackle some horrific cases, but … the results are mostly pleasing,” he wrote in his 50th anniversary graduation booklet.
Prior to moving to West Africa in 1967, Dr Elliott previously worked at Fremantle Hospital and later for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Kalgoorlie.
After the popular doctor’s kidnapping, the people of Burkina Faso pleaded online and on the streets for his safe release.
They even started a Facebook page to campaign for his release.
“Elliott is a Burkinabe and a humane person… He represents the best of humanity,” one post read.
In 2020, it was reported that whilst captive, the surgeon was tasked with training “foreign fighters” to be medics.
According to a report by Burkina Faso’s L’Evenement newspaper, Dr Elliott was being guarded by 20 armed men in Mali’s Mopti region.
On the fourth anniversary of Dr Elliot’s kidnapping, Mrs Elliott released a video asking for her husband’s release.
“To those who hold my husband, Dr Kenneth Elliott, may peace be with you and your families,” she said.
“I’ve been realising for some time now that you control my husband’s future and our last years together. You have the power to show kindness and free my husband, to do good for you, your family and for my family.”