Gunmen on Saturday killed a Yobe-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Goni Aisami-Gashua at Jajimaji, the headquarters of Karasuwa local government council of the state.
The cleric was said to be travelling from Gashua to Kano when he was followed in a bus by the attackers.
His janaza (funeral prayer) took place on Saturday and it was attended by hundreds of mourners.
Some Gashua residents told Channels Television that the incident happened around 10am at Jajimaji, a distance of less than 30 kilometers away from Gashua, the hometown of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.
Police spokesman in the state, DSP Dungus Abdulkarim, in a telephone conversation with our correspondent said suspects wielding AK-47 rifles have been arrested and are in police custody.
Dateline Nigeria also learnt that the attackers attempted to also steal his vehicle but failed.
Gashua has been one of the most peaceful communities in the state, even at the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency.
