Lawyers representing the Minister of Works, David Umahi, have requested a comprehensive forensic autopsy to establish the cause of death of Mary Habila, a nurse who was found unconscious in a staff chalet within the minister’s country home in Uburu, Ebonyi State, before her remains are released for burial.
The request comes as Habila’s father, Mr Tanko Habila Wisdom, filed a sworn affidavit withdrawing his family’s interest in further investigation, rejecting an autopsy and asking the police to release his daughter’s body for burial.
The developments followed a separate affidavit by Anita Baaki, a close friend and colleague of the deceased, detailing the events that preceded Habila’s death on June 27, 2026.
Baaki, a physiotherapist from Benue State, said she travelled from Abuja to Ebonyi State with Habila and other officials of the Federal Ministry of Works on June 24, 2026, for an official assignment connected with the minister.
According to her, the delegation was accommodated in separate but adjoining rooms in a staff chalet within the minister’s country home in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area.
She stressed that the chalet was designated for ministry employees and associates and was not Umahi’s private residence.
Baaki said she last saw Habila alive on the evening of June 26 after the deceased returned from having her hair done.
According to the affidavit, Habila visited Baaki’s room to show her new hairstyle, and the two women chatted and joked for some time.
“Mary told me she was tired and wanted to take a shower before sleeping. That was the last time I saw her alive,” Baaki stated.
She said she became concerned the following morning when Habila failed to leave her room at the expected time.
Baaki reportedly called Habila’s telephone repeatedly, but the calls went unanswered. She then knocked on the door, but there was no response, and the room appeared to have been locked from inside.
She subsequently alerted a domestic employee, who searched other parts of the premises to determine whether Habila had left the room.
After she could not be found elsewhere, other staff members were informed, and the door was forcibly opened.
Baaki said Habila was found lying unconscious on the floor near the entrance to the room.
She was immediately taken to the David Umahi Federal University Teaching Hospital, where medical personnel pronounced her dead on arrival.
Baaki said she made the statement voluntarily and without intimidation, inducement or coercion to assist investigators in establishing the circumstances surrounding her colleague’s death.
However, an affidavit titled “Affidavit of Withdrawal of Case,” sworn to by Habila’s father before the High Court Registry in Abakaliki on July 13, 2026, showed that the family had asked the authorities to discontinue further investigation and release her body for burial.
Tanko Habila Wisdom, who identified himself as a resident of Sabon Gari Nok in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, confirmed that Mary Habila was his daughter and died in Uburu on June 27.
He stated that, before her death, Habila was an employee of the David Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences and had been seconded to the Federal Ministry of Works in Mabushi, Abuja, for about three years.
The father also stated that his daughter served as a personal nurse to the Minister of Works and members of his immediate staff.
