Dane accused of killing wife, daughter know fate

A Lagos High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, (TBS) has adjourned the case of a Danish man, Peter Nielsen till May 20 for judgment, he is accused of killing his Nigerian wife Zainab and three-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

Justice Bolanle Okikiolu-Ighile was scheduled to deliver the judgment on Friday.

But court officials said that judgment was not ready, necessitating rescheduling of the date.

Justice Okikiolu-Ighile had fixed May 6 for judgment after proceedings on March 1, 2022, when the court took submissions and adopted the final written addresses of the prosecution and the defence

Kogi -born Zainab, alias Alizee, was a singer signed to an Asian record label, Petra Entertainment, and was in the course of promoting her January 2018 single, ‘Alhaji Musa’, before the alleged murder.

The Lagos State Government accused Nielsen, now 57, of smothering her and their daughter to death at about 3:45am on April 5, 2018 at No. 4, Flat 17, Bella Vista Tower, Banana Island, Ikoyi.

Nielsen was arraigned on June 13, 2018, on a two-count charge of murder under Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015

Nielson pleaded not guilty, following which trial commenced. During the trial, the court heard that Zainab and Petra died of head injuries and asphyxia (or suffocation) that were not self-inflicted.

Prof. John Obafunwa, a Consultant Pathologist told Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile that his post-mortem examination of Zainab’s corpse suggested that she was killed when her nose and mouth were forcibly closed which deprived her of oxygen.

She had also suffered bruises around her head which were consistent with “blunt force trauma that were not enough to cause any fracture.”

Obafunwa said evidence showed the deceased struggled to free herself from her killer’s grip using her hands and nails.

The result of a DNA analysis of Zainab’s nail clipping, the witness added, revealed the presence of her DNA material and that of “an individual described as Peter”.

On September 20, 2019, the Prosecution team led by Ms. Titilayo Shitta Bey (now Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice) concluded their case