Three kidnap victims, still in trauma, arrive home in Tawau
The three kidnap victims who were recently released after being held by Abu Sayyaf militants since last July have safely arrived in Tawau from Kuala Lumpur at about 6pm yesterday.
The trio were welcomed by Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan, assistant minister of Resource Development and Information Technology, Datuk Hajah Hamisa Samat, Tawau police chief, ACP Fadil bin Hj Marsus, Tawau municipal council president, Tuan Alijus Sipil and other community leaders.
The three Malaysians, Jumadil Rahim, 24, Mohd Ridzuan Ismail, 33, and Fandy Bakran, 27, were still in a trauma and will take a break to calm down together with their family while waiting to work with the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
Tawfiq said the MMEA is ready to recruit them as officers. However, they still need a rest period to recover from the trauma before moving forward.
He expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the Malaysian and Philippines government for their effort in securing the five kidnap victims’ return to their homeland safely. Special thank was also dedicated to the Kelab Putera 1Malaysia and its president Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Rahim for their cooperation in arranging the family of the kidnap victims to return home to Tawau.
Jumadil, the youngest kidnap victim, disclosed that he will be with his family for the time being before continuing to serve the country in MMEA.
“I’m very happy that I could still meet my family after being parted from them for eight months,” Fandy expressed in gratitude.
Mohd Ridzuan is also very saddened because of being apart from his family for eight months and is now still in trauma over the experience.
The trio expressed their thanks to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Datuk Tawfiq for their help in ensuring that they could return home safely.
The other two kidnap victims, Tayudin Anjut, 46, and Abdul Rahim Summas, 63, are still receiving treatment under the intensive care unit in a Kuala Lumpur hospital.