A couple was arrested on September 12 following the kidnapping of Elton B. Stephens Jr., a prominent 75-year-old retired businessman in Birmingham, Alabama. The two reportedly broke into Stephens rented house at around 1 a.m. on September 11 while he was sleeping. The couple stole items from the house before waking him up at 7 a.m. after which he was kidnapped and driven to their trailer in St. Clair County. He was driven back to his house at around 4:30 p.m. after he wire transfer $250,000 as ransom into their account. After his release, Stephens called the police, which launched an investigation along with the FBI and Secret Service. After the arrest, investigators recovered the money and other property, including a Toyota truck, that were stolen during the home invasion. Stephens is retired from EBSCO Industries, which was founded by his father, the late Elton B. Stephens in 1944. The company is ranked by FORBS as one of the top 200 largest privately held companies in the United States, involved in real estate developing, insurance and produces promotional products. (abc3340.com, 17 September 2020 & al.com, 17 September 2020)

Health Minister Julio Mazzoleni confirmed media reports that, Adelio Mendoza, the assist of former vice president Oscar Denis was tested positive to Coronavirus after he was released by their kidnappers. There are growing fears that Mendoza might infected the former vice president who is suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes and is a strict medication regime. The tests showed that Mendoza was already infected during the time he spend in captivity of the self-styled Paraguayan People's Army (EPP). The Minister of the Interior, Euclides Acevedo, also stated that the former official could be ill with the virus and added that search and rescue operations are ongoing to locate the former politician. Through social media outlets, the Ministry of the Interior Ministry also offer a reward of billion guaranies for information that will result in locating the abductee. (elpais.cr, 17 September 2020)

An indigenous employee, Adelio Mendoza, who was kidnapped along with the rancher and former vice president Oscar Denis, was released by their kidnappers from the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP). Mendoza, from the local Pai-Taviterá indigenous community, arrived at the ranch of former vice president from where they were kidnapped, after walking for several hours. He was examined by doctors and was reportedly in good health. The young man said that until his release, his captors kept him blindfolded and away from the politician who remain captive. (prensa.com, 14 September 2020)

The family of former Vice President Óscar Denis, kidnapped by the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP), sent three tucks of food to the town of Arroyito located in the department of Concepción to meet the rebel group demand to distribute food and other supplies in the amount of US$2 million to indigenous communities. The food was distributed after stating that they are “against all kinds of violence." The bags as demanded, were labeled with the rebel's group logo and a ribbon around each package said "courtesy of the EPP. The second EPP demand, to release two of their jailed members, is unlikely to be met after the Interior Minister told reporters that it was an “impossible order to fulfill”. (infobae.com, 13 September 2020 & elpais.cr, 14 September 2020)

A worker from the Tranquerita ranch, found a pamphlet and an attached memory card containing two videos left by the cell of the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP), known as the Indigenous Brigade of the EPP with the group’s demands for the release of former Vice President Óscar Denis and his employee. The EPP demands that the former politician family distribute US$2 million worth of food and other supplies to 40 communities (US$50,000 to each community). The food bags must have the phrase "courtesy of the EPP" and the logo of the rebels printed on them and that the distribution of the goods must be covered by the press. The group indicated that their demands must be met within 8 days or they will execute the two hostages. In addition, the EPP demanded the release of Carmen Villalba and Alcides Oviedo Brítez two jailed members of the rebel group within 72 hours and set September 13 at 10 p.m. as a deadline. The videos on the memory card contained the instruction to follow for the release of their jailed members and a list of the beneficiary communities. (infobae.com, 12 September 2020)

Former Vice-President Óscar Denis Sánchez (74) and his employee Adelio Mendoza (21) are believed to have been kidnapped from his La Tranquerita, located about 6 miles/ 10km from Yby Yaú district in the department of Concepción. One of his daughters told reporters that the two went to visit an injure worker when they were kidnapped. Another worker late found the politician's abandoned vehicle, with his wedding ring and watch inside and no sign of the two men. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the kidnapping and his captors suspected members of the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP) rebel group have not made contact with the family. His daughters begged his abductors to contact them and give him vital medicines. The kidnapping comes after two 11-year-old Argentine girls--daughters of one of the group leaders—were killed on September 2 during a raid by security forces on the rebel’s camp located about 30Km/ 19 miles from the kidnapping location. Their killing led to a widespread criticism and calls for an impartial investigation into their killing. The EPP is a small Marxist rebel group which has carried out a string of kidnappings and killings in Paraguay. One of the group's main sources of income is the smuggling of marijuana and ransoms paid for those it has kidnapped. Over the past years, the rebels have displaced scores of Mennonite settlers from an area they seek to control.  hoy.com.py, 9 September 2020 & bbc.com, 10 September 2020)

Three suspected Islamist militants rammed their vehicle into a National Guard checkpoint at a central junction in the coastal city of Sousse. They then stabbed two police officers manning the checkpoint, killing one and seriously wounding the other. The militants stole the officers’ guns and a police vehicle and attempted to flee through the touristic El Kantaoui district. Security forces surrounded the attackers, who were wearing clothes bearing Islamic State (IS) slogans and shot them dead during a brief exchanged of fire. Though the Tunisian security services have become more efficient in recent years in preventing and responding to attacks, sleeper cells still pose a real threat in the country, especially with the return of jihadists from Syria, Iraq and Libya. A day later the IS claimed responsibility for the attack on Telegram messenger app.

Former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Senator Felix Oboro, who was kidnapped on September 4 was released by his kidnappers on September 26 following a ransom payment of N11million. Oboro 75, a one-time Secretary to Bayelsa State Government and former Senator who represented Bayelsa West Senatorial district and a local leader of the All Progressives Congress party (APC), was kidnapped from his country home at Elemebiri, a riverside town located in the Sagbama Local Government Area of the state. He was reportedly seized twenty-four hours after arriving to the settlement by unidentified gunmen wearing military uniforms. The kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of N50 million ransom but following negotiations agreed to collect N11 million. He was released in good health to a three-man family delegation who travelled on a boat to drop the ransom along the Ayama-Oporoma waterway in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Council. (vanguardngr.com, 27 September 2020)

The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it received information from the French authorities informing them that a Swiss hostage kidnapped in Mali was killed by her captors from the Islamist terrorist organization Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslim (JNIM) about a month earlier. The press release does not name the hostage, but Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA reports that she was Béatrice Stöckli, a missionary from Basel who worked in Timbuktu. The exact circumstances of the killing are currently still unclear. News of the death “was obtained by the French authorities from the recently released French hostage”, says the ministry press release. (swissinfo.ch, 10 October 2020)

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a new proof-of-life video of Swiss missionary Beatrice Stockly, held hostage by the group since last January. The video, which lasts two minutes and 17 seconds, was posted on Telegram and Twitter social media sites.  In the clip a woman whose head is covered by a black veil identifies herself as Stockly. She says the date of the recording is 31 December 2016, and that she has been held hostage by AQIM for 360 days. She spoke in French, with her weary voice barely audible and her face blurred out. Stockly greeted her family and thanked the Swiss government “for all the efforts they have made.”“I am in good health,” she added. In late January 2016, AQIM claimed responsibility in a video for Stockly’s kidnapping, which it said took place on January 7. The group said it would free her in exchange for a number of AQIM fighters jailed in Mali and one of their leaders held in The Hague. Switzerland has demanded her release without conditions. AQIM released a second similar video in mid-June 2016 aimed at proving she was still alive. Stockly, who is in her 40s, is a Christian missionary who was previously abducted by jihadists in northern Mali’s Timbuktu in 2012. On that occasion, she was freed about two weeks later, but stayed in Mali. (hindustantimes.com, 11 January 2017)

The al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) militant group has released a new video purporting to show the Swiss nun whom they kidnapped in January from her home in Timbuktu is still alive and in good health. The three-minute video, which was posted on social media, shows a veiled Beatrice Stockly speaking in French. In the clip, Beatrice says she has been detained for 130 days, but is in good health and has been treated well, although it has been very hot. She concludes by thanking her family and the Swiss government for all of their efforts to secure her release. The AQIM has demanded the release of jailed fighters in Mali, as well as one of their leaders who is presently detained at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. (vomcanada.com, 30 June 2016)

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a video claiming responsibility for the January 8 kidnapping of a Swiss nun. The eight-minute video showed the veiled nun saying that the clip was filmed on January 19 and a man identifying the group as the AQIM and claimed that she was kidnapped because she drove out many locals from the fold of Islam to Christianity. The speaker also outlined the terms of the group's demands, which included the release of members imprisoned by the Malian government and Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, who are in the custody of the International Criminal Court. (reuters.com, 26 January 2016)

At around 3.30 a.m., a Swiss nun was kidnapped by a group of armed gunmen from her home in the northern city of Timbuktu. The woman, a Christian missionary in her 40s, was kidnapped from the same home in April 2012 by the Islamist group Ansar Dine and was released several days later. Though no group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is active in desert areas north of the city and has a history of seizing foreigners and demanding ransoms. The group is still holding two Western hostages whom they kidnapped in 2011. (reuters.com, 8 January 2016)