14082018 - POPULATION GROWTH : Danger looms for Nigeria

90—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 14, 2018
ALLEGED MURDER OF NIGERIAN
ARTIST, DAUGHTER BY DANISH MAN :
Subtle move to whisk suspect
to Denmark uncovered
•Peter Nielsen is innocent, we have our proof- Lawyer
•Late Petra Nielsen
she would attend to her.
By the time I woke up around 7am, I
saw the bodies in the kitchen with a
strong smell of gas” , he stated.
But 13- year-old Gift’s statement
countered Nielsen’s, as she claimed that
her sister was killed during a fight with
her husband that fateful day.
According to her “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 the
bedroom. I heard her shouting ‘help,’
‘help.’ I woke my younger sister up and
asked her if she also heard the shout
for help.
“ I saw the man(Nielsen) 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.”
Police investigation into the matter
showed marks of violence on the bodies
. Speaking on the outcome of the
investigation, the Lagos State Police
Police Relations Officer, Chike Oti, a
Superintendent of Police, said : “
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 have 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.”
BY EVELYN USMAN
•Late Zainab Nielsen
Indications have emerged that there
were subtle moves by some
prominent Nigerians to whisk out
of Nigeria the 53-year-old Danish man,
Peter Nielsen, who was alleged to have
murdered his 37-year-old wife, Zainab
Nielsen and their four-year old
daughter, Petra, at their Banana Island
, Ikoyi residence in Lagos, last
Thursday.
This is because Nielsen as reliably
gathered, is connected with some
acclaimed high and mighty . Among
them are serving governors, ministers
and other public office holders.
The citizen of Denmark, is a Chemical
Engineer who also has a Bachelor of
Science in Commerce. He has worked
in the field of Processing Agricultural
products for 15 years.
Information at Vanguard’s disposal
showed that Nielsen was sent to Nigeria
in 2011 by his company – CARGIL, to
work with one of the ministers, on an
agricultural project. He is also working
for a governor in the northern part of
the country on a similar project.
Further findings revealed that the
Danish established a large cassava firm
of 650 hectares in the Niger-Delta
region and has also signed a letter with
some international partners operating
in Nigeria, to invest in agricultural
projects. As at the time of his arrest , he
was working for one of the South South
states on an agricultural project.
Vanguard reliably gathered that when
news of his alleged involvement in his
wife and daughter’s killing filtered
round, moves were made to down play
the incident, by preventing it from
appearing public. But the moves
were thwarted by media hype and
continuous follow -up until the
suspect was charged to court on
Wednesday.
There was also untold story of
what happened when mother and
child were discovered dead in their
flat 17, block 4 apartment at
Bellasta Towers. Vanguard
learned that when the alarm was
raised by the deceased’s younger
sister, Madaki Gift and people
gathered the suspect was beaten
to a pulp before the arrival of
policemen from Ikoyi division , who
rescued him. As at the time he was
taken to the station, he reportedly
had blood shot eyes and an injury
in one of his fingers.
From Ikoyi division, he was
transferred to the State Criminal
Investigation and Intelligence
Department, SCIID Yaba, where
further investigations which
included an autopsy report to ascertain
the exact cause of death and a visit to
the scene of crime were carried out.
Thereafter, he was charged to the Yaba
Magistrate court 2 on Wednesday , on
a two count charge bothering on murder
and remanded in the Ikoyi prison till
May 8 2018.
Who killed Alizee and Petra
The poser at the moment , remains who
killed Alizee and her innocent and
harmless daughter Petra? The man at
the center of controversy, Nielsen, has
continued to maintain that he knew
nothing about the murder, insisting
•Peter Nielsen and late wife
rather that he woke up that fateful day
to see the corpses in their kitchen, with
a strong emission of gas , suggesting
that they could have been suffocated by
gas.
Narrating his last moment with is
family, Nielsen said : “ My late wife
and I stayed awake late into the night.
We watched a football match between
Real Madrid and Liverpool. We were
together until 3am when our daughter
came out of her room, calling for
attention. My wife told me to go and
sleep because I have been with our
daughter the previous night and that
Nielsen is innocent-lawyer
However, on his part, Nielsen’s
lawyer, Frank Udoka, stated that
his client was innocent of the offense.
He said :” It is important for us to note
that the right guaranteed under chapter
four of our constitution is called Human
right, not Nigerian right. And every
human is entitled to it. So, there is a
presumption of innocence until the court
decides otherwise.
Our job as lawyers is not just to defend
but also to help with the administration
of justice. It is important to know that
Mr Nielsen is also a victim in this
matter because he has lost a wife and
daughter.
“We are trying to find out exactly
what happened and we have
cooperated with the Nigeria Police in
their investigation. And we believe that
they will look at all angles. They
should look at the CCTV cameras
installed in estate where this
incident happened. It is their job to look
at them and we have every reason to
prove that what the CCTV cameras
are saying is consistent with what our
client said. There are a lot of dimensions
to the investigation and in the
interest of fairness and justice, it is
proper that we look at all sides.”
At the moment, the Police tend to have
concluded their investigation, even
though the results of the autopsy carried
out on the victims and the DNA test were
not made public. As the case continues
in court, we gathered that there were
moves by some prominent Nigerians to
secretly whisk the Danish engineer back
to his country. It is expected that that
perpetrator/s of this dastardly act will
not only be be exposed but also made
to face the wrath of the law no matter
how highly placed they are.