KIDAPAWAN CITY –– A ranking official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) turned over to the authorities the three gunmen, who allegedly massacred four persons, including a 3-year-old girl, in a remote village of Pikit town, Cotabato province on Friday, Oct. 9.
The gunmen were reportedly looking for a member of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team in the house, but upon failing to find him, took the lives of the victims, witnesses told the police.
Hadji Bayan Abas, commander of the MILF’s 108th base command, said the three suspects identified by survivors to have killed the victims surrendered to him at noon on Saturday, Oct. 10.
They included Nasser Noh Ali, 30, Abubakar Bernan, 32, and Salahuddin Noh Datukan, 21, all residents of Sitio Dungguan, Barangay Lagundi of Pikit town, and whom he turned over to Capt. Mautin Pangandigan, Pikit town police chief, and Cotabato provincial board member Dulia Sultan.
Killed in Sitio Tugunan, Barangay Lagunde on Friday were Sittie Alipolo Abdullah, 58; Zenaida Abdullah Mustapha, 36; Laga Abdullah 34; and a 3-year-old girl. Injured and still recuperating in a hospital were Asria Abdulrajak Abdullah, 30, and three minors aged 7, 8, and 13.
Police said the gunmen had arrived at the house, looking for the house owner, the BPAT member who accompanied the local police in the recent anti-drug operation in the area.
“The BPAT member who lived in that house was the target of the gunmen. He was not around when (the gunmen) arrived, so, instead, they (the gunmen strafed) the house, using their assault rifles,” Pangandigan said.
Police suspected that the attack was a “retaliation” to the recent police anti-drug operation in the village that led to the arrest of some people and the confiscation of illegal drugs.
“The gunmen were looking for a member of BPAT who owned the house. The BPAT member was among those who accompanied the local police in the anti-drug operation,” he said.
Pangandigan said Abas had vowed to help locate the suspects in the murder.
“The help from the MILF was huge,” he said. “We appreciate the assistance provided by the MILF,” Pangandigan said.
He said it was the second time for the MILF to help go after the suspects behind the violence in the area.
Last week, the MILF also arrested three suspects in the murder of a nurse and her brother in Pikit town.
The siblings were to meet an on-line seller of a Yamaha motorbike at an agreed place when they were shot upon their arrival, their money taken by the gunmen. Two days later, the MILF arrested the perpetrators and turned them over to the police.