Three persons, inluding the mother and son of a fleeing suspect, have been reportedly killed at Evwreni, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, following a squabble by two residents of the community.
It was gathered that the mother and son were killed in a reprisal attack after one person was allegedly shot dead during an argument.
Though sources said the incident involved some members of the community’s vigilante team, the state Police Command says it had nothing to do with them.
A source in the community, who sought anonymity, said: “Two vigilantes had a misunderstanding and had exchange of words. Nobody knew what happened; one of them shot the other one and he died on the spot.”
Saying that the suspect who, he said, is an indigene of a neighboring community fled the area after killing his colleague, the source said some persons “chased the mother of the suspect, poured petrol on her and set her ablaze. They also used the son of the suspect to hit the ground and he died”.
Contacted, Police Public Relations Officer of the State Command, Mr Bright Edafe, said the incident had nothing to do with vigilante, adding that the police were not aware of any reprisal attack.
He:: “For now, it is only one person that the suspect allegedly killed that they claim that made them went to retaliate. We don’t know if there is retaliation.”