Basilan governor’s brother, wife killed

Basilan Governor Jum Akbar. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 11, 2011) – Unidentified motorcycle gunmen shot dead the brother of a provincial governor and his wife in an attack in the troubled region of the southern Philippines, officials said Tuesday.

Officials said the gunmen open fired on Engineer Basser Jainuddin and wife Amina in front of the Basilan State College in Isabela City late Monday. The duo was heading home when they were attacked, said Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command.

He said the man was the younger brother of Basilan Governor Jum Akbar, whose husband Wahab, a congressman, was killed in a bomb attack in November 2007 at the House of Representatives in Manila. Authorities blamed the attack to political rivalry.

“The gunmen were tailing the victims and shot them near the Basilan State College. Basser Jainuddin died on the spot while his wife was rushed to hospital, but died along the way. We still don’t know the motive and authorities are still investigating the attack,” Cabangbang told the Mindanao Examiner.

Akbar did not give any statement about the killings. It was unknown whether the attack was connected to family feud or clan war. (Mindanao Examiner)