* Photo not related
From Audu Joe, Lokoja
Panic enveloped Felele, a surbub in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital on Monday, as three persons were reported killed over stolen mobile phone.
An eye witness revealed that a suspected thief who snatched a mobile phone and sneaked into a shop where the innocent shop owner was mistaken for being the thief on the run was killed by a mob, while the suspect escaped.
In a reprisal, sympathisers of the late shop owner, identified one of his alleged killers, beat him to death and set the corpse ablaze, while some persons have been taken to the hospital following injuries they sustained during the clashes.
However, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kogi Police Command, DSP Williams Aya, who confirmed the incident, said the command received a distress call from Felele at about 10 am on Monday, and on arrival at the scene discovered two dead bodies said to have been killed in a clash.
The PPRO explained that one Salisu Ado and Muhammad Mukaila all dead were alleged to have engaged in a fight over yet to be ascertained cause leading to their death.
He stated that Muhammed Mukaila was alleged to have stabbed Salisu Ado to death, prompting a reprisal attack by his relations and sympathisers who equally killed Mukaila and set his corpse ablaze.
According to DSP Aya, two suspects Muhammed Mubarak and Suleiman Yakubu all believed to be members of Aro Barger cult have been arrested in connection with the killings.
Also the PPRO said that investigation into the matter has commenced as the state Commissioner of Police has ordered the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department .