Ghapur: If someone enters my home with weapons, I will shoot him immediately

Kalabakan MP vents his fury in Parliament saying the intrusion by Sulu terrorts showed the authorities were lackadaisical and “to top it we let them negotiate”.

KOTA KINABALU: The authorities delay in dealing with the Sulu intrusion in Tanduo, Felda Sahabat earned the wrath of Kalabakan MP Datuk Seri Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-UMNO) who disagreed with the way the whole situation was dealt with and made it known to Parliament today.

“If someone enters my home with weapons, and on top of that, bullies me, will I negotiate? Of course I won’t.

“I will take my shotgun and shoot him immediately,” he said to cheers from both sides of the divide.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told Parliament today that the government had to deal with the matter delicately as it involved foreigners from a neighbouring country.

He was replying to a question from Bung Moktar Radin (BN-UMNO Kinabatangan) and also a supplementary question by the same MP on the Sulu terrorist intrusion.

Wan Junaidi told the House that authorities had only realised that the intruders were armed after the attack on Malaysian police on March 1.

“That was when we knew they were terrorists who wanted to lay their claim on Sabah,” he said during question time.

Abdul Ghapur said he had raised the issue of the lack of security along the coast of Eastern Sabah in Parliament several times before but nothing was done.

“We in the East Coast cannot sleep at night because of this. This was an intrusion which means we were lackadaisical and to top it we let them negotiate?”

Wan Junaidi told Abdul Ghapur the government had set procedures and acted in a number of ways to solve the issue.

“The Emergency in Malaya lasted for 12 years, 1948 to 1960, but the government only took three months to resolve this,” he said, adding that the government can guarantee the safety of the people in Sabah with the Eastern Sabah Safety Zone (Esszone) in place.

The reply prompted Abdul Ghapur to shout back: “But we don’t feel it is guaranteed. We don’t want you to say that our safety is guaranteed.”

Authorities first tried to negotiate with the intruders in the hope they would leave but negotiations broke down after the gunmen attacked Malaysian security forces on March 1.

The Ops Daulat operations saw the death of 10 security forces personnel and 70 Sulu gunmen.

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak then announced the setting up of the Esszone which covers a coastline of 1,400km in the districts of Lahad Datu, Kudat, Kota Marudu, Pitas, Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and Tawau.

Four Malaysians were among 30 people who were charged under The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) over the Sulu intrusion.

One of them, Detective Corporal Hassan Ali Basari, 61, was accused of withholding terrorism information at the office of the Lahad Datu Special Branch chief.

The other locals are Norhaida Ibnahi, 46, Abd Hadi Mawan, 49, and Abdul Majil Jubin, 41.

Norhaida was charged with harbouring a group of terrorists while the other two were accused of being members of a terrorist group and treason against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

The armed intruders had first entered Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu sometime in February and their presence was only realised by the authorities on Feb 12.