A grieving Nigerian father, Ibrahim Balogun, has spoken about the k+lling of his 21-year-old son, Qayyum Balogun, who was fatally stabbed in Dublin, Ireland, on June 1, 2026.
Qayyum, a third-year Computer Science student at Maynooth University, had travelled to Dublin with his sister, Aliyah, and friends after completing his exams to attend a music concert at Bewley’s Café.
He was reportedly attacked after trying to help a woman who was being harassed.
Investigators believe he was first assa¥lted on Grafton Street before being chased to Clarendon Street, where he was stabbed multiple times.
His father, who was in Nigeria at the time, said he received a frantic call from Aliyah in the early hours informing him that Qayyum had been stabbed.
“It’s hard to believe my son would d+e in Ireland, after what I left in Nigeria.”
The trip to Nigeria was one Qayyum was meant to make with his father, but he stayed back because of his examinations.
After the concert, Qayyum told his sister he wanted to stay out a little longer while she returned to their hotel.
When he failed to return, she tried calling him before one of his friends informed her he had been rushed to St. James’s Hospital, where doctors later confirmed he had d+ed despite efforts to save him.
Describing Qayyum as a gentle, quiet and hardworking young man, his parents said he dreamed of becoming a computer engineer and had no history of violence or trouble.
His mother said he preferred spending time at home with his family and playing video games.
Irish authorities say the main suspect, an amateur rapper in his early 20s, was captured on CCTV fleeing the scene before leaving Ireland later that day. He also allegedly posted messages online appearing to mock the killing.
Qayyum was buried on June 16 at Newtown Cross Lawn Cemetery in Drogheda.
His father has appealed to the suspect to return and cooperate with investigators, saying the family simply wants to know the truth about what led to the fatal attack.
