The recent release of hostages in Mali raises hopes that more hostages will be released. Several Malians and six Westerners are still in the hands of the jihadists in the Sahel. Among them is the Colombian nun Gloria Cecilia Argoti, known as “Sister Gloria”.
The Colombian nun was abducted on February 7, 2017 in Karangasso, in the Sikasso region of southern Mali. She then appears in two videos, including one with French-Swiss Sophie Pétronin, who was released Thursday night. That was in September 2018. Since then, there is no more news from nuns.
For the Bishop of Mopti, Montsignor Jean-Baptiste Tiama, at the head of the Diocese of Sikasso at the time of the abduction of Sister Gloria, the release of Sophie Pétronin revives the hope of getting information about the nun’s fate.
“If we could get in touch with the released hostages, find out if they have news from Gloria, as the videos that appeared at one point showed Sister Gloria in Sophie Pétronin’s service. Since then nothing, the jihadists say nothing. The proprietors do not feel anything. We do not really know what to think. And we still hope ”.
Is Sister Gloria still alive? Are her catchers the same as Sophie Pétronins? And above all, the Archbishop of Mopti wonders, does field research continue? No official announcement on the subject from the Bamako authorities.
On the Colombian side, a month after the nuns’ abduction, police sent two agents from the anti-kidnapping unit to try to find his clues, without success.
The last proof of Sister Gloria’s life goes back to a video broadcast in September 2018 with Sophie Pétronin, which she especially cared for. Before that, she had appeared in another video, where she requested the intervention of the Pope, in January 2018.
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