(Left to right) Roslan, Rahilah, Ahmad and Isnani walked for four hours after being stranded for 23 days in Kampung Tanjung Labian.
LAHAD DATU: For the past three weeks, Rahilah Ahmad, a villager in Kampung Tanjung Labian, have been praying very hard.
“I pray everyday for our safety. We cannot tell what the future would be for us … the conflict area is just too close and I fear the worst for my family,” said the 39-year-old, who was forced to stay put in their small hut deep in the Kampung Tanjung Labian jungle for the past 23 days.
Rahilah said they were kind of ‘stranded’ in their house as she was too weak to move.
“My father (Ahmad Nawang) and uncle (Isnani Jalmaani) came to alert my husband (Roslan Tujaman) and me about the intruders and offensive attack launched against them.
“But I tire easily and was just too weak to run or walk. So in the end, they all stayed back to look after me,” she said, when met yesterday.
Ahmad, 66, disclosed that he had brought Isnani, 68, to accompany him on Mar 5 to alert Rahilah and her husband of the incident.
“My wife had asked me to rescue our daughter, so I went. But I just cannot leave her behind because she is unwell, so we decided to stay on with them,” said Awang.
For the first 18 days, the four depended on the stock of food Rahilah and Roslan had.
“But supplies ran out fast, so on the 19th day in the house, we survived on corn and bananas only. In fact, for the last three days, we only had banana as daily meals,” said Ahmad.
They also depended on rain water.
“There was very little rain lately, which was only enough for drinking and cooking. I have not done laundry for awhile now,” said Rahilah.
Throughout their stay, Rahilah said, they were never bothered by anyone.
“All we could hear were gunshots, bombs, jets and tanks. At night, there would be explosions and sometimes it looked like fireworks,” she added.
Since they were running out of food, the four decided to leave home and be reunited with their family in a safe place.
“We started walking at 10 am yesterday until we were discovered by the army at 2 pm upon reaching the main road.
“It was my scariest walk ever as we were worried that we would run into the intruders or even the Malaysian security forces who might mistake us as part of the group of Filipino armed men.
“We stopped at least five times, just for a short rest to catch up on our breath before continuing walking. Our target was to reach the main road before sun down,” said Roslan.
He is glad that nothing happened to them and is so relieved to be reunited with their families and relatives.
As for Isnani, he cannot wait to meet his wife and their six children.
“Since Ahmad and me are old, we kind of delayed the walk … I just prayed at every stops we made so we will reach our destination safely,” he said.