ZAMBOANGA CITY–The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) released Monday the government engineer they seized over three months ago in the province of Sulu, a top military official said.
Freed from captivity was Engr. Enrico Nee of the Sulu first engineering district of the Department of Public Works and Highways in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DPWH-ARMM), according to Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Joint Task Force Sulu commander.
Sobejana said Nee was freed around 8 a.m. Monday in Barangay Latih, Patikul, Sulu.
“Said KV (kidnap victim) was left in the said place as he has health problems.” Sobejana said.
Nee caught the attention of residents in Barangay Latih who reported the latter’s presence to the office of Sulu’s first district engineer, who in turn immediately dispatched vehicles to pick the victim up, the military official added.
Nee underwent medical check-up after he was fetched from the DPWH office to the Joint Task Force Sulu headquarters in Camp General Teodulfo Bautista in Barangay, Busbus, Jolo.
The Abu Sayyaf bandits seized Nee in the morning of February 14 in Barangay San Raymundo, Jolo, while he was on his way to report for work at the DPWH District 1 office.
Sobejana said Nee recalled that he was cornered by seven heavily armed men on board a tamaraw jeep.
Nee was brought to the mountainous part of Patikul where a bigger ASG formation was waiting.
He counted three armed clashes between the military and the ASG during the period of his captivity.
Nee said the ASG may have released him because he delays their movement due to his health condition.
Sobejana said the military remains relentless in its security and rescue operations to recover the remaining kidnap victims.
The Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf bandits are still holding captive nine people consisting of five foreigners–three Indonesians, one Vietnamese and one Dutch–and three Filipinos. (Teofilo Garcia, Jr/PNA)
