FNL combatants were suspected of being behind the abduction of a local official, Alphonse Shikamiro, in Gihanga commune, Bubanza province on November 4, 2008.[159] A senior FNL official denied the movement’s responsibility, but the Kibuye case demonstrated that leaders were not necessarily in control of local events. Shikamiro’s whereabouts and state of well-being were unknown at the time of this writing; police and administrative authorities said he was believed to have been taken to the FNL base in Rukoko forest and killed.[160] Later in November, two soldiers were abducted and seriously beaten by FNL members demanding the release of prisoners. They were released the same day after intervention by an FNL commander.[161]