Alizee was killed during a fight with Danish husband—Sister

Late Zainab Alizee Nielsen

Fresh facts have emerged on how rising Nigerian singer, Zainab Alizee Nielsen and her three-year-old daughter, Petra, were allegedly murdered by her Danish husband, Peter Nielsen, at their Banana Island residence, Ikoyi, Lagos, last Thursday.

This followed a revelation that the couple was engaged in a brawl in their bedroom at Block 4, Flat 17, Bellasta Towers. Information at Vanguard’s disposal revealed that the fight was not their first.

The 53-year-old Danish, Peter Nielsen, initially denied culpability in the murder, stating rather that he woke up to find the bodies in the kitchen and that they could have been suffocated by gas.

However, investigation carried out by the Police showed that bodies of mother and child were dragged from the bedroom, where the fight started, to the kitchen.

Eyewitness’ account

The Danish man’s claim was also countered by late Zainab’s younger sister, Madaki Gift, who stated that she witnessed the fight that led to her sister’s demise.

The 13-year-old Gift told the Police that she was woken up from sleep with the shout of help from her sister’s bedroom at about 4a.m. on the day.

According to her, “my name is Madaki Gift, late Zainab’s sister. The incident happened over night after my late sister had finished preparing food for her husband. The housemaid went to her own room to sleep after cooking and I was the last person to leave the kitchen.

“After a while, there was a fight between my sister and her husband in their bedroom. I heard her shouting ‘help,’ ‘help.’ I woke my younger sister up and asked her if she also heard the shout for help.

“Later, I saw the man hitting my sister’s head on the floor. I tried to rush outside to call neighbours to come to my sister’s rescue, but discovered that the doors were all locked. By the time we got there later in the morning she was dead.”

Peter Nielsen

Gift, as gathered, rushed out at about 7a.m. to alert other residents, who were said to have kept watch on the Danish man to prevent him from escaping, before the arrival of policemen from Ikoyi Division.

Police investigation

As at yesterday, the suspect was still being interrogated at the Homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, SCIID, Panti, Yaba. Already, autopsy report, as gathered, has been carried out on the bodies to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Meanwhile, preliminary investigation according to the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, revealed marks on both bodies of mother and daughter.

Oti said: “ On April 5, at about 11a.m., the Command received a complaint from the Facility Manager of Bellasta Tower, Banana Island, Mr. Kunle Kukoyi, that at about 7a.m. of same day, he was informed by 13-year-old Miss Gift Madaki, that she heard her elder sister, late Mrs Zainab Nielsen, 37, crying in the early hours of the morning as she was being manhandled by her husband, one Mr. Peter Nielsen, a 53-year-old citizen of Denmark.

“The little girl estimated the time she heard her sister’s cry to be 3.45a.m. Based on the report, the Command mobilised its Crime Scene Detectives to the location alongside the medics from Britannia Hospital, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

“Together, they went to Flat 17, Block 4 apartment of the Nielsens, where two bodies, identified as that of Zainab Nielsen and her three-year-old baby, Petra Nielsen, were found in the kitchen.”

At the scene

According to the Police spokesman, “the doctor and his team inspected the bodies and confirmed them dead.

“Preliminary investigation conducted at the scene revealed that the violence that consumed the deceased persons started in the couple’s bedroom, but the bodies were dragged to the kitchen.

“On closer examination, visible marks of violence were seen on the bodies. The corpses were photographed and evacuated to Lagos Island General Hospital for autopsy.

“Meanwhile, letters has been sent to the Embassy of Denmark, intimating it that Lagos State Police Command is investigating Mr. Peter Nielsen, a citizen of Denmark, for an alleged case of murder.”