By Our Reporter 

Panic gripped Ore, the headquarters of Odigbo Local Government Area, in the early hours of Thursday after a 27-year-old man allegedly stabbed a nursing mother to death and injured her husband and daughter during a dispute over unpaid rent.

The tragic incident, which occurred around 5:00 a.m. in the Ore-Alaba area of the town, reportedly followed a protracted disagreement between the suspect, identified as Quozeem Awe, and one of his father’s tenants, Mathew Adeleye.

The altercation is said to have centred on the issuance of a quit notice and alleged arrears of rent.

Eyewitnesses said the usually calm neighbourhood was thrown into confusion as residents fled their homes amid screams from the affected apartment.

The deceased, Deborah Adeleye, was said to have been lying on the bed when the suspect allegedly forced his way into the room armed with a knife and a cutlass.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mathew Adeleye alleged that he and other tenants had been served quit notices despite their rents not yet being due.

He said his tenancy was scheduled to expire on March 16 and that he had already secured another apartment in preparation for relocation.

According to him, at about 5:00 a.m., the suspect knocked on their door.

Sensing danger, he claimed to have cautioned another tenant in the building not to grant access.

However, he alleged that while he briefly stepped out to use the toilet, the entrance was opened, enabling the suspect to gain entry 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 recounted.

The attack reportedly plunged the household into chaos as the couple’s four children, including a nine-month-old baby, burst into tears.

Adeleye said he confronted the suspect at the entrance in a bid to disarm him but slipped during the struggle.

“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 the General Hospital in Ore.

Deborah was confirmed dead by medical personnel, while her husband and daughter are currently receiving treatment.

The body has since been deposited at a morgue in the town.

A police source disclosed that the suspect later surrendered himself at a nearby station.

Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Ondo State Police Command, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, said the Command had arrested a 27-year-old suspect, Kazeem Awe, in connection with the incident which occurred on February 26, 2026, at Daystar Area, Ore-Alaba.

According to the police spokesperson, the suspect allegedly attacked three tenants, inflicting multiple stab wounds.

Operatives promptly visited the scene, recovered a blood-stained cutlass suspected to have been used in the attack, and took the suspect into custody.

He added that the suspect has been charged to court and remanded in a correctional centre, while investigations continue.