2 Abus tagged in twin kidnaps fall; militants threaten to behead 2 captives

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Security forces have captured two Abu Sayyaf militants in Zamboanga City, including one who was allegedly involved in the kidnappings of an American teenage boy and an Australian man, officials said yesterday.

Police and Army troops captured Jimmy Nurilla and Bakrin Haris on Monday in a raid on their hideout in Sangali village. Another militant, a certain Wahid, the main target of the raid, escaped, police said.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said without elaborating that the militants were in possession of explosives and rebel documents when arrested.

Nurilla was believed involved in a number of kidnappings, including that of American Kevin Lunsmann, who was 14 when he escaped from his Abu Sayyaf captors in 2011 after five months in captivity in Basilan.

Nurilla was also suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of Warren Richard Rodwell, a former Australian soldier who was freed near Pagadian City in March last year after 15 months of jungle captivity, according to the PAOCC.

Meanwhile, Abu Sayyaf militants have threatened to behead a lowly salaried foreman and his brother-in-law, who were snatched in Indanan, Sulu last June 4, if their families would not pay P7-million ransom.

This prompted Analiza Lingayan, wife of captive foreman Remegio Lingayan, 50, to seek the assistance of local officials for the safe release of her husband and brother-in-law Joselito Gonzales.

The two were seized while working on a project of Sulu Vice Gov. Sakur Tan in Barangay Timbangan, Indanan town.

Mrs. Lingayan said the kidnappers contacted them to relay the ransom demand and their warning that they would harm her husband and Gonzales if the ransom is not paid, although no deadline was set.

She said the kidnappers originally demanded P20 million but reduced it to P7 million, despite their appeal that they could not even raise the lower amount.

“We appealed that we could not raise such a big amount of money because we are poor. We could even hardly provide the food for our own because he (Lingayan) is with you (kidnappers),” she recalled telling one of the kidnappers.

She said the kidnappers allowed her to talk to her husband who said he and Gonzales were being treated nicely and provided with food and clothing.

The Lingayan family has begun soliciting money but has so far raised only about P1,000.– AP, Roel Pareño