KOTA KINABALU – Two long-sought Abu Sayyaf militant commanders accused of killing tourists in the Philippines and Sabah in their kidnap-and-ransom scheme have surrendered themselves to Philippine security forces.
Suspects Almujer Yadah and Bensito Quitino gave themselves up to military officials in Jolo town in southern Sulu province and surrendered their assault rifles, according to Sulu security officials yesterday.
ABC News reported that the two were briefly presented in a news conference in an army camp in Jolo and later turned over to police.
They are accused of beheading two Canadian tourists, Robert Hall and John Ridsdel.
Hall and Ridsdel were kidnapped along with a Norwegian and a Filipino in September 2015 in the southern Philippines and taken to jungle camps in Sulu.
The militants beheaded Hall and Ridsdel months later as the ransom was not paid. The Norwegian and Filipino hostages were eventually freed.
Sulu provincial police chief Jaime Mojica had reportedly said the suspects would face multiple murder and other criminal charges, including violations of the country’s anti-terrorism law.
He said the suspects were also involved in other ransom kidnappings and bomb attacks, as well as the 2017 beheading of German hostage Jurgen Gustav Kantner in Sulu.
Kantner was kidnapped while sailing in Sabah’s waters. A woman sailing with him was killed and later found on a yacht off Sulu’s Laparan Island.
The Vibes is awaiting a response from the Eastern Sabah Security Command’s commander Hamzah Ahmad on the development. – The Vibes, June 18, 2022
