A brutal dawn attack in Ore Alaba area of Ondo State has left a nursing mother dead after a dispute over house rent spiraled out of control when 27-year-old Quozeem Awe son of the landlord allegedly stabbed Deborah Adeleye to death and wounded her husband Mathew Adeleye as well as their daughter on February 26 2026.
Speaking from his hospital bed at General Hospital, Ore Mathew Adeleye described tragedy.
"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 maintained there had been no physical confrontation with the landlords son before the attack.
He recounted the terrifying moments according to The Hope Newspaper, "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 stabbed. She died on the spot.
"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 stabbed me multiple times in the back hand and leg," Adeleye said.
The conflict had brewed for weeks after the landlord issued quit notices to tenants despite rents not being due until March 16.
Deborah a mother-of-four including a nine-month-old infant ran a small tea business.
Eyewitnesses reported that Quozeem stormed the apartment armed with a knife and cutlass around 5 am following the rent argument with Mathew who is one of the tenants in the building owned by Quozeem's father.
The attack turned deadly as Quozeem allegedly pounced on Deborah while she rested on the bed. Their daughter Tunrayo suffered a stab wound to her wrist while escaping and raised an alarm alongside one of Deborah's early morning bread suppliers for her tea business.
Distraught neighbors rushed the victims to hospital where Deborah was pronounced dead leaving behind her four children including the baby crying uncontrollably at the scene.
The tenant accused of opening the door fled and remains at large leaving the community in panic.
Quozeem voluntarily surrendered to police.
DSP Jimoh Abayomi confirmed a bloodstained cutlass was recovered and the body of Deborah has been deposited at a morgue in Ore.
The suspect has been charged to court and remanded in a correctional facility.
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