The Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Thursday told his own side of the story on the mystery surrounding the death of 26-year-old Mary Habila at his residence in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, emphasising that she was like a daughter to him. Habila was found dead June 27, 2026, in one of the rooms in Umahi’s country home.
The incident however attracted national attention when it was exclusively reported Friday July 10, 2026, by SaharaReporters, a New York-based online news media.
It was later confirmed by the minister in a statement Saturday July 11, by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Francis Nwaze, who identified the deceased as a physiotherapist seconded to the Federal Ministry of Works from the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, and called for an autopsy.
Amidst public outrage and raging controversy surrounding Habila’s death, Umahi, at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) clarified that contrary to the widespread claim that she was a physiotherapist, Habila was indeed a nurse who had lived and worked with his family for about three years.
Minister Umahi, who spoke after briefing journalists on projects recently approved by President Bola Tinubu, described attempts to link him to the incident as politically motivated, contending that the controversy surrounding Habila’s death had been blown out of proportion.
According to him, “My lawyers have spoken on my behalf. But one piece of information I want to correct is that the lady in question was like a daughter to me. She had stayed with me for three years.
“She was a staff member of the Federal Medical University. She was a nurse and not a physiotherapist. And her family and my family are like one family.”
Revealing that Habila had battled medical challenges before her sudden death, Umahi said, “She has her medical records in a Turkish Hospital, being paid by us. The last one was on the 5th of April, and it cost me N2.2 million. The records are there. I paid N2.2 million.”
He also narrated how Habila made a distress call to her boyfriend, complaining that she was bleeding from and was advised to seek medical attention
“She spoke to her boyfriend at the hour of her death and complained that she was bleeding from the nose. The boyfriend said, ‘No, you have to report it.’ She said it had stopped. The boyfriend then said, ‘Listen, I will not continue this conversation since you are bleeding. It will increase the bleeding.’
“She told the boyfriend, ‘Don’t cut the call.’ The boyfriend cut the call. Three minutes later, the boyfriend called again. She was not responding.”
The minister further claimed that Habila had informed her boyfriend she intended to take a bath before she stopped responding to calls.
“Even in the morning, she told her boyfriend she was going to bathe because she had locked her door. When they discovered something was wrong, they broke down the door and discovered her dead. The tap was still running,” he added.
Exonerating himself from culpability, Umahi insisted that the guest house where the incident occurred was located far from his private residence, declaring that it was unfair to hold him responsible simply because the facility belonged to the Ministry of Works.
He posited that “What baffles me in this country is that everything becomes an opportunity. There is a guest house where she and other medical personnel stayed, and that is very far from where I stay. Does it mean that because somebody dies in the Ministry of Works, the minister must be accountable for that.”
Cautioning against politicising Habila’s death, the minister warned that “People should be careful when they want to use the unfortunate death of a young girl to play politics.
“If we have a hand in the killing, it will follow our families and us. But if we don’t have a hand in it and you are jumping into it, be careful. Life is spiritual.”
He described Habila as one of his most dependable staff members, saying that “It is very painful to me that the girl passed on. It is very difficult to replace her. She was one of my best workers.”
On the ongoing police investigation, Umahi said that authorities had not been able to carry out an autopsy because Habila’s family allegedly objected on cultural grounds.
“We have been begging the parents to allow an autopsy to happen. They said it is against their culture. But we insisted through our lawyer that an autopsy should happen. I have directed that the corpse cannot be removed until an autopsy,” Umahi disclosed.
He also said that he has requested the Inspector-General of Police to move the investigation to Abuja to ensure a comprehensive probe and facilitate engagement with the deceased’s family.
The minister further claimed that Habila had suffered similar nosebleeds in the past while travelling with him on official assignments.
“The boyfriend also told us that when we were in Lagos, she called him and said she was bleeding from the nose. He advised her to report to me so I could send her back to the hospital, but she didn’t want to stress me. He then told her to find a hospital around and seek treatment,” Umahi stated.
He urged investigators to retrieve telephone records between Habila and her boyfriend, insisting that the conversation could provide useful information.
“I have asked the police to go to the call logs. They should go to the call log of the boy and the call log of the girl, and they will hear the last conversation the girl had with the boyfriend at the hour of her death,” Umahi said.
Although he maintained that investigators should be allowed to complete their work, Umahi said he had no reason to suspect criminal activity.
“I suspect no foul play because the other lady who stayed with her was sleeping in the same bed. Her room was still locked, and the door had to be broken before they discovered the body. The tap was still running because I think she was going to bathe,” he said.
Umahi also condemned the circulation of photographs allegedly taken at the mortuary, accusing some police officers of leaking images that fuelled public speculation.
“When they took her to the mortuary, that was where the police took the picture. They did not dress her up in the mortuary before taking the picture and sending out damaging information,” he said.
The minister added that he had instructed his lawyers to initiate legal action against individuals and media organisations he accused of spreading false information and cyberbullying the deceased.
Umahi said he has directed his lawyers “to get across to those involved in cyberbullying in this matter,” stressing that “We are going to test the law on that.”
