He claimed to be responsible for the release of the American and the German nationals from the captivity of the lost command of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1984.
Beginning on 9 February 2013, approximately 200 men led by his brother, Agbimuddin Kiram intruded into neighbouring Sabah in Malaysia by entering illegally into Lahad Datu, in an effort to assert the former Sulu Sultanate's claim to the state.