This archive report was first published on 10 May 2020.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Twitter that Silvia Romano, an Italian volunteer worker kidnapped in Kilifi, Kenya in 2018, has been freed.
On May 9, 2020, Conte tweeted that Romano was finally free, thanking intelligence services for their work in securing her release.
"Silvia Romano è stata liberata! Ringrazio le donne e gli uomini dei servizi di intelligence esterna. Silvia, ti aspettiamo in Italia!" Conte tweeted.
Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Luigi Di Maio also announced the news, thanking intelligence services and expressing his relief that Romano was safe.
"I wanted to give you good news. Silvia Romano is free. The state leaves no one behind. A hug to your family. And thanks to our intelligence, the Aise in particular, the Farnesina and all those who worked on it," Di Maio posted on Twitter.
Romano, a 23-year-old manager for the non-governmental organization African Milele Onlus, was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the Chakara area of Kilifi in 2018.
Reports emerged in December 2018 that Romano was alive and being held in Kenya, but the specific location was not revealed.
However, the police denied reports in January 2019 that Romano had been taken to neighboring Somalia.
Al-Shabaab militants have been responsible for a series of kidnappings in the coastal regions of Kenya, including the ambush of residents on November 20, 2018, which left five people wounded.
