"After several months of efforts, Nigerien authorities obtained the liberation of the two hostages from the hands of (JNIM), an active terrorist group in West Africa and the Sahel," Niger's interior minister Hamadou Adamou Souley told journalists at the airport, flanked by the two men.
"I’m gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity," U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Twitter. "The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him."
Dubois was kidnapped in Mali in 2021, while Woodke was kidnapped in neighboring Niger in 2016.
JNIM is a West Africa-based affiliate of al Qaeda.
Dubois, who disappeared from Mali's northern city of Gao in April 2021, appeared in a video last August, urging authorities to do everything they could to free him from his Islamist captors.
"It's huge for me to be here today," he said on Monday. "I wasn't expecting it at all. I feel tired but I'm well."
Woodke's release was announced days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Niger for an official visit, becoming the first top U.S. diplomat to visit the country.
A senior administration official praised efforts of Niger in helping secure the release of Woodke but declined to say where he was exactly on Monday. The official, who spoke to reporters by phone and on the condition of anonymity, added that Woodke's family had been notified.
His wife Els said she had not yet heard from him, but was told that he was in good condition, a statement on a website calling for his freedom said.
"She has expressed her profound thanks to the many people in governments and others around the world who have worked so hard to see this result." the statement said.
There were no direct negotiations with the militant organization that held Woodke, and no ransom or so-called quid pro quo was part of his release, the senior U.S. official said.
It was not entirely clear where Woodke was held during his captivity, the official said, but he was known to have been in multiple locations and multiple countries.
Woodke was released outside of Niger. The New York Times first reported his release.
Kidnappings are a relatively common tactic by Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have gained ground across the Sahel region over the past decade, killing thousands and uprooting over two million people in the process.
Those groups have repeatedly declared French citizens in West Africa to be targets since a 2013 military intervention by France drove them back a year earlier.
