LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — The suspected Maute terrorist arrested in Cagayan de Oro City early Thursday is not a son of now detained spouses Cayamora and Farhana Maute, police said.
The Police Regional Office-10 in Cagayan de Oro City has clarified that Mohammad Noaim Maute, also known as Abu Jadid, is closely related by blood to the Maute couple, but is not their son as earlier reported by investigators.
Mohammad was intercepted at a checkpoint in Barangay Macasandig in Cagayan de Oro City.
The PRO-10 first announced that Mohammad is a son of Cayamora and Farhana, but rescinded the announcement when authorities in Lanao del Sur confirmed that he is not a sibling of Omar and Abdullah Maute, contrary to initial reports.
Omar and Abdullah are the founders of the Dawlah Islamiya, now comprised of Maute gunmen and a faction in the Abu Sayyaf led by Isnilon Hapilon.
Members of the municipal peace and order council in Butig town in Lanao del Sur, the hometown of the Maute clan, confirmed on Thursday afternoon that the now detained Mohammad is indeed a close relative of the wanted Omar and Abdullah.
Implicated in bombing of CDO hotel
Mohammad was reportedly implicated in the 2012 bombing of the Maxandrea Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City that killed Rudy Jute, Expedito Endan and injured two policemen, PO1 Rogelio Canilanza and PO1 Dexter Dano.
Local officials in Lanao del Sur province, where Marawi City is located, said it was in 2012 when Omar and Abdullah and a certain Alim Omam Abdulnajid, also known as Alim Owaida, began organizing the Dawlah Islamiya, which they initially named then as “Gurabah,” whose objective was to establish a puritan Islamic community in Mindanao.
The sources said Mohammad was still a young teen when the bombing of the hotel in Cagayan de Oro happened, but hinted he could have possibly acted as the courier of the explosive used in the attack.
Officials of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division said Mohammad was first detected in Cagayan de Oro City two days prior to his arrest there at past 5:00 a.m. Thursday.
Army intelligence sources Mohammad was also implicated in the bombing of a bus in Maramag town in Bukidnon province in December 2014 that left 11 passengers dead and 21 others wounded.