Jerome Hugonot, an Environmentalist with dual French and Australian citizenship has been freed after he was taken hostage in Chad on Friday, the Military Head of State, President Mahamat Idriss Deby said on Sunday.
Hugonot was working for the Sahara Conservation Fund in Wadi Fara providence, near the Sudan border, when he was kidnapped on Friday, according to official sources.
Hugonot who manages an oryx park on behalf of a conservation group was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in the northeastern Wadi Fira province.
Deby announced his release on Twitter without providing further details on how his release was secured.
“I am delighted with this happy ending,” he said. The French foreign ministry also announced the release in a separate statement.
“France thanks the Chadian authorities that worked for this release,” the ministry said, also without giving further details.