Stock photo / INQUIRER.net
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur –Ruaina Edris Sayyadi was preoccupied with attending to Al Barka residents in the ongoing voter registration when suddenly, an unidentified man approached her from the back and shot her at close range.
Sayyadi, Al Barka’s election officer, was declared dead on arrival at the Basilan Community Hospital.
Police Colonel Junpikar Sittin, Isabela City police chief, said the shooting incident happened around 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday at Barangay Doña Ramona, Isabela City, where a satellite of the Al Barka municipal election office is located.
The suspect fled aboard a motorcycle.
“We have no motive yet. We are still investigating until now. So far, we cannot provide details,” Sittin said.
In a statement, Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman strongly condemned the attack, saying the killing of Sayyadi was an affront to democracy.
Hataman urged authorities to investigate the incident thoroughly.
Sayyadi is the second election official to be shot in Isabela City.
The first was Aknam Haris Hasim, the election officer of Maluso town. He was shot several times while driving a car in Barangay San Rafael, Isabela City, last October 10, 2021.
Hasim, 49, sustained multiple gunshot wounds on different parts of his body, while his daughter Marwa Hasim Alih, 20, suffered a minor injury in her right leg. Hasim survived the attack, Sittin said.