Fugitive preacher wanted by FBI arrested in Philippines after fraught standoff between police and supporters

CNN —

Filipino pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is wanted by both the FBI and local law enforcement officers on sexual abuse and human trafficking charges, has been arrested weeks after a standoff with the police.

The arrest concludes a fraught showdown between the pastor’s supporters and police who had surrounded a compound in the country’s south where Quiboloy had holed up.

In posts on Facebook, the Philippines’ Interior Minister Benhur Abolos, confirmed that the preacher, who had been on the run for three years, “has been caught.”

National police arrested Quiboloy, a self-styled “appointed son of God” and founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church (KOJC), along with four of his aides in the southern city of Davao after they surrendered, according to state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA).

At 1:30 p.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), the detainees were issued a 24-hour ultimatum to come out from the church’s sprawling 30-hectare (75 acre) compound. They surrendered four hours later, Philippine News Agency reported.

They have since been transported out of Davao by military aircraft and arrived at the national police headquarters in Manila on Sunday night, along with four of his aides, PNA reported.

Apollo Quiboloy speaks on his talk show on May 23, 2016, in Davao City, southern Philippines.

Related article Preacher wanted by FBI on sex crime charges evades Philippine police as followers resist in dayslong standoff

“I thank him (Quiboloy) for the realization to face the law. I also thanked the KOJC members and supporters for their cooperation and I hope this is the start of healing,” Director of Police Regional Office 11, Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, PNA reported.

Police had been attempting to arrest the