9-year-old boy abducted in Sulu – AFP

Patikul Sulu (Google maps)

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A 9-year old boy was abducted in Patikul, Sulu on Tuesday night.

Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Joint Task Force Sulu of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said several armed men snatched the boy from his residence in Barangay San Raymundo.

Sobejana said the Joint Task Force Sulu and the local police have been “exerting all our best effort to locate and rescue the victim.”

Dr. Raden Ikbal, chair of the Bangsa Sug Against Kidnapping and other Organized Crimes (Bassakao Inc.,), said the Grade 4 pupil was taken from his home in the presence of his mother.

“The family of the boy is not wealthy. The mother sells snacks in one of the canteens of an elementary school in Jolo,” Ikbal said.

Ikbal appealed to the kidnappers to free the boy without conditions.

“It is Ramadhan and we are appealing to these kidnappers to release the boy. Ramadhan is about peace,” Ikbal said.  SFM