Fresh controversy has emerged over the death of Mary Habila, the young woman who died at the residence of Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, with sources alleging that the minister has sought to have the police investigation and planned autopsy transferred from Ebonyi State to Abuja.
Multiple sources familiar with the matter told SaharaReporters that the latest development has also exposed alleged political tensions between Umahi and his successor as Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, over the handling of the high-profile case.
According to the sources, following growing public scrutiny and the suspension of plans to bury Habila last week, Umahi allegedly approached senior police authorities in Abuja, requesting that the investigation be taken over from the Ebonyi State Police Command and that Habila’s body be moved to Abuja for a forensic autopsy.
The sources alleged that the minister became dissatisfied after expecting local authorities in Ebonyi State to facilitate the handling of the matter following Habila’s death at his private residence in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area.
“After the public outcry and the suspension of the burial, the minister allegedly approached police authorities in Abuja and requested that the investigation be moved from Ebonyi to Abuja,” a source said.
According to the sources, Umahi allegedly left the residence shortly after the incident, leaving some of his aides, including one identified simply as Jonathan Bawado, to coordinate the immediate response.
The sources further claimed that attempts to quietly manage the situation were frustrated when police officers and hospital officials allegedly declined to suppress information relating to the case.
They also alleged that photographs showing Habila with blood around her mouth and nose later surfaced in the public domain, intensifying public interest and calls for an independent investigation.
Meanwhile, Habila’s father, Wisdom, subsequently filed an affidavit before the Ebonyi State High Court in Abakaliki indicating that he did not want an autopsy to be conducted on his daughter’s body.
However, amid mounting public outrage and demands for a thorough investigation, the planned burial, which had been scheduled for last Friday, was postponed.
The sources further alleged that Umahi sponsored a press conference addressed by Habila’s father, during which he appealed for his daughter’s body to be released for burial.
Anita Baaki, a friend of Habila who was also at the minister’s residence when Habila died, attended the press briefing and has maintained that there was no foul play in Habila’s death.
Habila died on June 27 under controversial circumstances at Umahi’s residence in Uburu, sparking widespread public concern and an ongoing police investigation.
On Monday, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that Habila was a Community Health Extension Worker (CHEW), contrary to earlier claims by the minister’s media team that she was a physiotherapist.
Multiple sources had alleged that she was placed on the payroll of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (DUFUHS), Uburu, through the minister’s influence despite allegedly lacking the qualifications required for the position she was said to occupy.
The report followed an earlier statement by the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy (NSP), which said Habila’s name did not appear in its database of registered physiotherapists, contradicting claims by Umahi’s camp that she was a physiotherapist on secondment to the Federal Ministry of Works.
The circumstances surrounding Habila’s death remain under police investigation, with authorities maintaining that a forensic autopsy is necessary to determine the exact cause of death before her body can be released for burial.
(SaharaReporters)
