Kidnapped Yemeni national freed in Marawi City

A Yemeni missionary who was seized by armed men in the southern Philippine city of Marawi last month had been released by his abductors, a military official said on Monday. Brig, Gen. Rey Ardo, commander of the military forces in Lanao del Sur province, said Najib Al Odaini was released at 3 a.m. at the boundary of Talakag in Bukidnon and Tagoloan II in Lanao del Sur. The 34-year-old victim was kidnapped last Jan. 2. Odaini was brought to Cagayan de Oro for a medical checkup immediately after his release, which Ardo said was a result of the police and the military’s search and rescue operations and negotiations led by the provincial government and a crisis management committee. Odaini was a member of the Markazoss Habab Al Muslim Filfilibbin Inc (Muslim Youth Center in the Phil), a United Arab Emirates-based Muslim religious organization that has been serving Lanao del Sur for more than 31 years. Lanao del Sur Rep. Faisah Dumarpah said Odaini was “instrumental in charitable works in the province" like the construction of mosques and giving his help in building educational institutions. About seven gunmen posing as policemen abducted Odaini in Old Capitol, Barangay Matampay in Marawi City. The victim's driver said the suspects immobilized him by handcuffing in their vehicle’s steering wheel. - Sophia Dedace/KBK, GMANews.TV