Sayyaf in kidnap-slay of Filipino man captured

 Posted to the Mindanao Examiner (Jul 29, 2023): Sayyaf in kidnap-slay of Filipino man captured

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Police are holding a suspected Abu Sayyaf man linked to the kidnap-slay of a farmer here in April 2009 with officials saying the suspect is a relative of an Abu Sayyaf commander in the southern Philippine province of Basilan.

Maj. Shellamie Chang, a regional police spokeswoman, confirmed Saturday the capture of Muhamad Akbar Bakil in the village of Buenavista. She said the 63-year old Bakil is a relative of Wahab Bakil, an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader in Basilan's Sumisip town; and Ben Mungkay, also an Abu Sayyaf member whose group is operating in Zamboanga City.

She said joint Zamboanga and Basilan police forces armed with warrants swooped down Friday, July 28, on Bakil's hideout and arrested him. Policemen also seized a .45-caliber pistol and ammunition from Bakil.

"The search warrant was served in the presence of two village officials from Buenavista. The subject person is allegedly involved in a kidnapping incident that transpired on April 25, 2009 in Buenavista," Chang said, referring to the kidnapping of Doroteo Gonzales, then 61.

Gonzales' captors spirited him to Basilan where he was beheaded a month after his kidnapping in the town of Akbar when his family failed to pay P25 million ransom. Since then, several of Bakil's cohorts had been captured separately in Zamboanga and Basilan. There was no immediate statement from Gonzales' family over this latest development. (Mindanao Examiner)

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