Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Thursday said he does not suspect any foul play in the death of his aide, Mary Habila, insisting that attempts to link him to the incident amount to “politics taken too far.”
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, Umahi described the deceased as someone who was “like a daughter” to him, saying she had lived and worked with him for about three years.
“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 University of Health Sciences. She was a nurse and not a physiotherapist,” he said.
The minister disclosed that Habila had been battling health challenges and had been receiving treatment at a Turkish hospital, with him covering the medical expenses.
“The last treatment was on the 5th of April, and it cost me N2.2 million. The records are there. I paid N2.2 million,” Umahi said.
Giving his account of her final moments, Umahi said Habila spoke with her boyfriend shortly before her death and reportedly complained of a nosebleed.
“She spoke to her boyfriend at the hour of her death and complained that she was bleeding from the nose. The boyfriend advised her to report it. She said it had stopped,” he stated.
He added that Habila later told her boyfriend she wanted to take a bath before communication ceased.
“Three minutes later, the boyfriend called again. She was not responding. When they discovered something was wrong, they broke down the door and found her dead. The tap was still running,” he said.
Umahi argued that the guest house where the incident occurred was separate from his private residence and should not automatically make him responsible.
“Does it mean that because somebody dies in the Ministry of Works, the minister must be accountable for that?” he asked.
Describing Habila as one of his most committed workers, the minister said her death had been painful.
“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,” he said.
Umahi appealed to the deceased’s family to permit an autopsy to establish the cause of death, saying the body should not be released until the procedure is conducted.
“We have been begging the parents to allow an autopsy. 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,” he said.
The minister also disclosed that he had asked the Inspector-General of Police to move the investigation to Abuja.
“We have reported to the Inspector-General of Police to transfer the case to Abuja. Let them beg the family to do an autopsy,” he said.
Maintaining that he had seen no indication of criminal activity, Umahi said, “I suspect no foul play because the other lady who stayed with her was sleeping in the same room. The door had to be broken before they discovered the body.”
He also warned against what he described as misinformation surrounding the case and said legal action would be taken against those spreading false claims.
Police investigations into the circumstances surrounding Habila’s death are ongoing, while authorities continue to seek the family’s consent for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
