1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Guinea
  • News

Missing UNHCR worker freed

A UNHCR radio operator, Joseph Loua, was freed in Liberia on Monday, 47 days after he was abducted by gunmen in the town of Guekedou in southern Guinea, UNHCR reported. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officials found Loua in Voinjama, near Liberia's border with Guinea, and took him to Monrovia. ICRC workers described him as being in a good shape.

Loua, a father of five and a resident of Guekedou, was reportedly taken from UNHCR's Guekedou office on 6 December by unidentified gunmen as he tried to send a radio message about an attack on the town. An eyewitness saw him being taken toward the Liberian border carrying what seemed to be radio equipment.

In September, a UNHCR worker was killed and another abducted in the town of Macenta during an armed attack. The abducted woman was later released, also in Liberia.


This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join