2 MSU students abducted in Marawi City — Army

Two students of Mindanao State University in Marawi City were abducted by suspected members of a kidnap for ransom (KFR) group early this week, a military official said Friday. 1st Lt. Orlando Marquez, civil military operations officer of the Army's 65th Infantry Battalion said the victims were seized around 8 a.m. Tuesday while the two were on their way back to their dormitory inside the sprawling campus. (As per editorial policy, GMANews.TV is withholding the identities of the victims.) Marquez told GMANews.TV that the abductors were asking school officials P200,000 in exchange for the freedom of the two students. He added that the abductors would not "negotiate" with anybody, except with MSU officials. He said security has been tightened inside the campus, which is home to over 10,000 students, even as soldiers had been deployed to patrol the grounds 24/7. Asked by GMANews.TV about the incident, a provincial police official said they have not received any report on any untoward incident inside the campus. The official declined to be identified. Local officials could not be reached as of posting time. Marquez said the perpetrators could possibly come from a new KFR group. "Kasi kung dati na yan, maa-identify kagad namin iyan in one week at mapapalaya na kaagad ang biktima. Pero ngayon, wala pa kaming alam at hindi namin alam kung nasaan ang mga biktima," he said. Marquez said it was not the first time that abductions occurred inside the campus, only this time, students were the ones victimized. The previous victims were school authorities. — with Mark Merueñas/RSJ, GMANews.TV