The residents of Ikare Akoko in the Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Saturday allegedly prevented police from arresting one Felix Babalola alleged to have beaten his daughter to death.
Babalola allegedly
beat his four-year-old daughter, Testimony, to death on Wednesday following the allegation that the little girl possessed evil spirits.
After being unconscious as a result of the severe beating, the deceased was rushed to the Ondo State University Teaching Hospital, Akure, by her mother, but Testimony was confirmed dead at the hospital.
Shortly after, it was gathered that the mother of the deceased fled the hospital premises with the corpse of the girl to an unknown destination and since then, the police had been trailing Babalola and his wife. It was also gathered that Mrs Babalola disappeared from the hospital for fear of being arrested by the police but it was learnt that the little girl died as a result of the beating from her father.
However, on Saturday, a source said the police traced the suspects to Ikare, but residents of the area allegedly prevented them from arresting the suspects.
The reason for preventing the suspects from being arrested by the community was not known as of the time of filing this report.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Undie Adie, neither confirmed nor denied the development, but said the suspects would be arrested.