By Emma Nnadozie (Crime Editor), Ufuoma Tiveruahor & Faith Ake

The sombre look and sorrow on the faces of the teeming crowd that gathered at the home of Pa Peter Ikre, 74, at his Road 712, C Close, Festac Town residence, was enough to tell the sad story. The retired naval officer was tragically killed on Wednesday, by two gun-wielding miscreants on a motorbike at 52 Road junction by 5th Avenue, Festac, at about 12 noon while he was alighting from his car – a Toyota Camry with registration number LAGOS EPE 521 DA.

Visit to the bank 

•Pa Ikre on uniform

The unsuspecting old man was said to have earlier gone to the bank and later proceeded towards 52 Road junction where he normally relaxes in a popular joint when the hoodlums accosted him. They reportedly demanded for the money he had collected from the bank and he was said to have willingly given the paltry sum to them but they insisted on getting more while he kept on denying having any more money, and begging them to spare his life.

Passionate pleas

Unfortunately, his passionate plea fell on deaf ears as the two hoodlums persisted and went ahead to release several bullet shots into his body with a view to forcing him to give them more money. At the last count, the bandits released not less than 15 bullets into the thin body of the old man and he slumped in a pool of his blood after which his assailants leisurely mounted their bike and sped off.

Sympathetic crowd to the rescue

It was at this stage that the sympathetic on-lookers thronged the scene to behold the Urhobo-born retired  navy commander struggling for life. They reportedly rushed him to a nearby hospital, RE-Venue Clinic, where he was confirmed dead. Trickles of his blood flowed freely from the scene of the incident to the clinic when the sympathetic crowd were rushing him to the clinic. It was the crowd that also picked up his phone and got numbers to alert members of his family at their residence, a few metres away from the scene.

Visit to the house of sorrow

A visit to the late commander’s residence the following day unfolded heart-rending scenarios which elicited uncontrollable tears from the eyes of all. More shocking was the startling revelation that Pa Ikre had twelve well-educated children including a reverend father, from one wife. His first son and some others residing overseas were said to have wept uncontrollably when news of the brutal killing of their dear father was broken to them.

Son, a reverend father, opens up

The second son, Reverend Father William Ikre, who was visibly shaken by the tragedy but was able to hold himself with reserved equanimity, spoke volumes about his father. “It is sad that he went away because we did not find it funny at all. He had his own shortcomings as a human being but to us, his children, he was a good man.

He took out time to care for us despite our numbers. It was a big shock to me when I heard it. I was coming out from the lecture room where I went to teach in the seminary school in Ibadan when I heard of it. I went straight to the car and drove down to Lagos after hearing the gravity of the attack. When I got to the house, I heard he had passed on. I have to stand in for my elder brother who is in America to see how we can put heads together to give him a befitting burial.”

“He was a good man”

He spoke further: “My father was a good man and I am sure God will forgive him his sins. He did his best for us to have trained 12 children to the highest level. It is not an easy thing. So, I think he had done his best as a God-fearing man. God, in his infinite mercy, will forgive him his sins and accept him into his blossom.”

Background

“He was born in the year 1942 and joined the Navy at the age of 19, rising through the ranks to retire at the age of 56 as a commander in Lagos. He worked in Lagos and  Port Harcourt. His last assignment was at Victoria Island in Lagos. He was the Manager of Ship Right. He was a ship builder. After his retirement, he had been living a quiet life. He was a church person, always in church. He was a Christian father and was once Harvest Committee Chairman.”

No premonition

“He did not have any premonition of his death. He was in the house when he told my mother he was stepping out in the morning and that was it. At about 10am, like I was told, he went to the bank, received money and felt being trailed. They said he came down, did not have any altercation with the people before they said, “Where is the money?” He gave them his purse and was begging them not to kill him. ‘Please do not kill me’, he had pleaded.

And the next thing he heard was gunshots. My mother said about 15 bullets were seen on the scene of the accident. So, there was no way he could have survived it, except by God’s miracle. My mother said his legs were shattered as well as his stomach, where the bullets pierced through; he lost a lot of blood.”

Police arrived scene

“Police came to the scene. I think from what I heard, the police came, rushed him to a private hospital but I think by then, he had lost so much blood. They said they tried to put him on drip and all that, but it was a lost case. From the hospital, they took him to the morgue.”

Investigation

“The Naval Command are meeting with the Area Commander to see how far they have gone with the investigation but from what I gathered, it was even the DPO that moved the body to the morgue, and that he was even there when my father was at the hospital. In this regard, I think they said he did his best. That was after the crime was committed.”

What I will miss about my dad

“He did not talk too much. He was a military man to the core. He could stare at you and laugh but he did not talk too much. He was always brief and to the point. He was a home person”, the son concluded.

Early callers speak

One of the early callers to the house and a cousin to the deceased, Prof. Williams Odiete could not hide his feelings: “I was very devastated when I heard the news and it was a very painful realization. We are both first cousins. I am older. For how much will they kill him? What did he go to collect in the bank? He has no project going on that he will collect big money; this is very painful. He was a clean, good, humble and honest gentleman; homely and hard working.”

Another close family friend, an ENT surgeon and a retired director in the Ministry of Defence, Dr. Ochini also voiced out his feelings: “In my medical school, the first son was my junior. We came to know ourselves from the Catholic community. I was the Secretary then, while the first son, Dr. Ikre, was neck-deep in Catholicism until I found out about his parents and where they came from. They are very good Christians. He was very jovial. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.”