(Mary Habila. Photo by Arise News)
The family of Mary Habila, a 26-year-old nurse found d£ad in the country home of the Minister of Works, David Umahi, has submitted a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu, demanding the release of their daughter’s corpse.
The petition, submitted at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Friday, contained a threat by the family to sue the Ebonyi State Police Commissioner over the continued withholding of Habila’s body despite their request for its release.
Speaking on behalf of the family, lawyer Kaile Adamu Yusuf explained that the family opposes an autopsy on religious and cultural grounds, lamenting that her death had become politicised, with several people wrongly describing her as promiscuous.
He clarified that the deceased was a nurse, not a physiotherapist as had been circulated, noting that she was employed by Umahi University of Health Sciences before being seconded to the minister’s office, where she had worked for about three years.
He explained that although the family had followed all procedures required by the police in Ebonyi State to retrieve the body for burial, the corpse remained unreleased despite a prolonged process, suggesting that some individuals appeared intent on exploiting the situation for political gain.
He added that the minister had repeatedly requested an autopsy, but the family remained firm in declining it for personal, cultural and traditional reasons.
He said he was acting on the family’s instructions in petitioning the Inspector General of Police against the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police, on behalf of the family of the deceased, who died on June 27, 2026, in Ebonyi State.
Speaking separately, Mary’s father, Tanko Habila Wisdom, appealed for the release of his daughter’s body so that he could give her a proper burial.
He maintained that the family does not suspect foul play in her death and urged that the matter not be politicised, stating that he was not accusing anyone, since death can occur naturally and unexpectedly.
He said the family shared a cordial relationship with Mary before her passing and appealed to the police to respect their wish to lay her to rest peacefully.
