(CNN Espanol) – Colombian Franciscan nun Gloria Cecilia Narvis, who was abducted by a group affiliated with Al Qaeda in eastern Africa in southern Mali in 2017, has been released, the Malian Presidency said in a statement on Saturday.

He added that this release was a result of that Four years and over eight months “Coordinated efforts of various intelligence agencies.”

Mali’s presidency acknowledged “the courage and bravery of a nun” in a post on its Facebook account.

Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvis Arcotti was abducted in February 2017 in South Africa by an Al Qaeda-linked group in southern Mali. (Credit: WorldWatch Monitor)

For its part, the Colombian government celebrated the release with a statement from Vice President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucia Ramares.

“We are very happy and we appreciate this happy ending for our comrade, his family, his friends and all Colombians,” he said.

Prior to his abduction on February 7, 2017, Nargis had been a missionary near the border with Burkina Faso for six years. The Colombian foreign ministry at the time said he had lost his independence in the village of Carangaso in southern Mali.

This day is October 09, the release of Colombian religious sister Gloria Norway. He was abducted on February 7, 2017 in Carangaso, in the Kotiala circle between Malik and Burkina Faso.
The President of Mali praises his sister for her courage and bravery. pic.twitter.com/xIDiIhzjMR

– President Mali (resPresidenceMali) October 9, 2021

Neither Malian nor Colombian officials have explained how Norweghe achieved his independence; If the ransom was paid or if it was a military rescue mission.

Jihadi kidnappers

In 2018, Norwis released a hostage video demanding that al-Qaeda-linked jihadists responsible for the abduction be released from the Islamist and Muslim Support Group (GSIM) in Sahel. Pressured by the captives, Nervis made a direct appeal to the Pope: “I ask Pope Francis to help me until I reach freedom and to do what I can not do to free myself,” he said.

Mali has been fighting insurgency by Islamist militants since 2012, in which kidnapping has become a common occurrence and a lucrative source of money for jihadist groups.

In May, Olivier Dubois, a French journalist who went missing in Mali, appeared in a video that appeared on social media, claiming he had been abducted by a local Islamist group and had asked French authorities to help free him. .

In the 21-second clip, Dubois claimed to have been abducted by GISM jihadists on April 8 in the city of Kaw in central Mali.