A 27-year old landlord’s son, Quozeem Awe, allegedly st@bbed a nursing mother to d3ath during a dispute over unpaid house rent in Ore, headquarters of Odigbo Local Government area of Ondo State.
The suspect was said to have fatally st@bbed the deceased, identified as Deborah Adeleye, and also injured her husband, Mathew Adeleye, as well as their daughter during the attack.
The shocking incident reportedly occurred around 5:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 26, 2026 at the Ore Alaba area.
Eyewitnesses who spoke with Ondo State owned publication, Hope Newspapwe, said the violence was allegedly triggered by an argument over unpaid house rent between the landlord’s son and the deceased’s husband, who is one of the tenants in the building owned by the suspect’s father.
The dispute, which had reportedly been brewing for weeks, escalated when the landlord’s son allegedly stormed the tenants’ apartment armed with a knife and cutlass.
Narrating his ordeal from his hospital bed, Adeleye said he and other tenants had earlier been issued a quit notice despite the fact that their rent was not yet due.
According to him, his rent was scheduled to expire on the 16th of March, and he had already begun making arrangements to secure a new apartment in compliance with the notice.
“I had informed friends to help us find another place, and we finally secured one. We were preparing to move out that same Thursday the incident happened,” he said.
He added that there had been no physical confrontation between him and the landlord’s son prior to the attack.
Recounting the events, Adeleye said at about 5.00, Quozeem allegedly came knocking on their door.
Sensing danger, he said he warned the only remaining tenant in the building apart from him, not to open the entrance door, alleging that the landlord’s son was capable of violence.
“While I briefly stepped out to use the toilet, the other tenant allegedly opened the entrance door, allowing Quozeem to gain access.
Moments later, he reportedly rushed into the room where my wife, Deborah, a nursing mother, was lying on the bed.
“Immediately he entered, he jumped on my wife. She screamed that she had been st@bbed. She d!ed on the spot,” he said.
The brutal killing sent shockwaves through the household as her four children, including a nine-month old baby, began crying uncontrollably.
“I rushed out of the toilet upon hearing the commotion and confronted him at the entrance. In the ensuing struggle, I attempted to wrestle the knife from him but slipped to the ground. He overpowered me and st@bbed me multiple times in the back, hand and leg,” Adeleye recounted.
The violence reportedly extended to the couple’s first child, Tunrayo Adeleye, who sustained a st@b wound to the wrist while trying to escape.
Tunrayo managed to run outside to raise an alarm, joined by one of Deborah’s customers who had arrived early to supply bread for her tea business.
Residents who responded to the distress call rushed the victims to a nearby hospital, while the other tenant accused of opening the door reportedly fled the scene and has since absconded.
Quozeem was said to have voluntarily surrendered himself at a nearby police station following the incident.
A police source confirmed that the corpse of the deceased had been deposited at a morgue in Ore, while investigation into the matter is ongoing.
