Police authorities in Abuja have reportedly taken over the investigation into the controversial death of Mary Habila, the young woman who died at the residence of Nigeria’s Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, amid growing public scrutiny over the case.
Sources familiar with the development told SaharaReporters that a police signal had been sent to the Ebonyi State Police Command directing officers in Abakaliki to hand over the investigation to authorities in Abuja.
The sources further disclosed that Habila’s body is expected to be moved to the Federal Capital Territory as part of the takeover, where a forensic autopsy is likely to be conducted.
The latest development comes days after SaharaReporters exclusively reported that Umahi had allegedly sought to have both the police investigation and the planned autopsy transferred from Ebonyi State to Abuja following mounting public outrage over Habila’s death.
According to multiple sources, the minister became dissatisfied with the handling of the investigation by the Ebonyi State Police Command, particularly after details of the case began emerging in the public domain.
Sources had alleged that Umahi expected a more favourable handling of the matter locally but that Governor Francis Nwifuru insisted that the police carry out a thorough investigation to determine whether any foul play was involved.
“The governor insisted that the police should do a proper investigation into the matter instead of trying to sweep it under the carpet,” one source had told SaharaReporters.
Sources further disclosed that the Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi State CP Hope Urunwa Okafor was summoned to the Force Headquarters in Abuja earlier this week over the handling of the investigation.
According to the sources, she was allegedly pressured regarding the probe but declined to compromise the integrity of the investigation.
The controversy surrounding Habila’s death has also exposed alleged political tensions between Umahi and his successor, Governor Nwifuru, over the handling of the high-profile case.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that following growing public scrutiny and the suspension of Habila’s planned burial, 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.
Sources alleged that attempts to quietly manage the incident were frustrated after police officers and hospital officials reportedly declined to suppress information relating to the case.
The matter attracted wider public attention after photographs allegedly showing Habila with blood around her mouth and nose surfaced online, prompting calls for an independent investigation.
Although Habila’s father, Wisdom, filed an affidavit before the Ebonyi State High Court indicating that he did not want an autopsy conducted on his daughter’s body, the planned burial was later suspended following public outrage and demands for a thorough investigation.
Habila died on June 27 under controversial circumstances at Umahi’s private residence in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
Following SaharaReporters’ reports, Umahi confirmed that Habila died at his residence but maintained that she was a physiotherapist seconded from the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (DUFUHS) to the Federal Ministry of Works. He also said he had advised her family to consent to a forensic autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
However, SaharaReporters subsequently reported that Habila was in fact a Community Health Extension Worker (CHEW), contrary to claims by the minister’s media team that she was a physiotherapist.
The report followed a statement by the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy (NSP), which said Habila’s name did not appear in its register of licensed physiotherapists.
The controversy has continued to generate fresh developments. On Thursday, the Uburu Traditional Rulers Council, headed by HRH Eze Lazarus N. Umahi, the elder brother of the Minister of Works, declared a dawn-to-dusk curfew across the community to observe a traditional spiritual cleansing exercise known as Isu Arua.
The council said the exercise was intended to promote “spiritual cleansing, peace and renewal” in the community, although the announcement drew public attention because it came amid the ongoing investigation into Habila’s death.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters also exclusively reported that the management of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences directed staff members not to release information relating to Habila’s death without official authorisation.
Minutes of an internal management meeting obtained by SaharaReporters showed that the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jesse Uneke, cautioned staff against making unauthorised disclosures capable of undermining the institution’s image, while sources said the directive was partly aimed at controlling information relating to the ongoing controversy.
