Panic swept through Ore, the headquarters of Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Thursday following the alleged killing of a nursing mother by a landlord’s son during a dispute over unpaid rent.
The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Quozeem Awe, was accused of fatally stabbing Deborah Adeleye and injuring her husband, Mathew Adeleye, as well as their daughter in the early morning attack.
The tragic incident reportedly occurred around 5:00 a.m. at the Ore Alaba area, beside a popular school, throwing the usually peaceful neighbourhood into confusion as frightened residents scampered for safety.
Eyewitnesses who spoke with The Hope Metro said the violence was allegedly triggered by a lingering disagreement over house rent between the suspect and the deceased’s husband, a tenant in a building owned by the suspect’s father.
Sources disclosed that the dispute had been brewing for weeks. It was gathered that the landlord’s son allegedly stormed the apartment armed with a knife and a cutlass, escalating the confrontation.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Mathew Adeleye recounted that he and other tenants had earlier been served quit notices, despite their rents not yet being due.
He explained that his tenancy was scheduled to expire on March 16 and that he had already begun arrangements to relocate in compliance with the notice.
“I had informed friends to help us search for another apartment, and we eventually secured one. We were preparing to move out that same Thursday the incident occurred,” he said, adding that there had been no prior physical altercation between him and the suspect.
Narrating the ordeal, Adeleye said that at about 5:00 a.m., Quozeem allegedly knocked on their door. Suspecting danger, he claimed to have warned the only other tenant in the building not to open the entrance.
However, while he briefly stepped out to use the toilet, the door was allegedly opened, allowing the suspect access into the apartment.
“Moments later, he rushed into the room where my wife, Deborah, was lying on the bed. Immediately he entered, he jumped on her. She screamed that she had been stabbed. She died on the spot,” he alleged.
The attack reportedly threw the household into chaos, as the couple’s four children — including a nine-month-old baby — burst into tears.
Adeleye said he rushed out upon hearing the commotion and confronted the suspect at the entrance. “In the struggle to disarm him, I slipped and fell. He overpowered me and stabbed me several times in the back, hand and leg,” he said.
Their first child, Tunrayo Adeleye, was also said to have sustained a stab wound on the wrist while attempting to escape.
She reportedly ran outside to raise the alarm, alongside one of Deborah’s customers who had arrived early to supply bread for her tea business.
Sympathisers who responded to the distress call rushed the victims to a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, the tenant accused of opening the door allegedly fled the scene and remains at large.
The suspect was said to have later surrendered himself at a nearby police station.
A police source confirmed that Deborah’s body has been deposited at a morgue in Ore, while investigations into the incident are ongoing.
The Hope
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